aporia #1 by rsn | Baltzer

Thomas Rosen & Sebastian Brohn (both of Mülheim, Germany) play bass & guitar, respectively. Aside from “a tonne of effects pedals,” no other electronics were employed on their first NYR collaboration. Brohn cheekily adds that, “beer was also involved.” And thus was born rsn | Baltzer’s ‘aporia #1.’

Rosen & Brohn’s music here is of a singular swagger…deep, dark, shifting, icy sheets of sustained tones which weave in and out of one another, never focusing on one spot for too long. Its sounds beg the question as to whether actual bows were used on the strings, because some of the harmonics seem too shrill to have been produced by using an ebow or similar electromagnetic sustainer.

Either way, this music is a comfortable veil of frigid air to bask in when the upcoming season’s heat becomes too much to bear. I can also hear this album’s walls of feedback and distortion being played as severe storms roll through.

NYR has been no stranger to drone music, but the label’s releases tend to lean into electronics with its experimental roots. We *have* released records by string quartet Sempre Dolce, slightly bent guitar musings by Fat Knuckle Freddy, not to be outdone by maestro Emmis B, who has thrown everything *including* the kitchen sink into his music.

Electronic or not, I hope you allow this lush recording the opportunity to give you frisson as it envelopes you. The songs are long-form but still command attention as one sets the stage for the next. I hope you enjoy it as much as I am.

Ben @ NYR

PS. EU-based listeners looking for a CD copy would do best reaching out to Sascha Stadlmeir’s label, Attenuation Circuit. Thank you, Sascha, for the time and attention you put into getting the physical portion of this release organized.

An aporetic interrelationship is a state where two irreconcilable components are connected and meaningfully complement each other. The four improvisations explore the hopelessness of being shaped by contradictory forces from which one cannot escape. The dynamism that comes from getting started, trying things out, letting go and playing together is often phenomenal. Sounds and songs can be created that reproduce the vibrations of the live moment of the recording identically. This energy and atmosphere is perfectly reflected in ‘aporia #1’, the collaboration between guitarist Baltzer and rsn. Guitar and bass interweave, swell follows swell, scraps of melody creep into the background, a drone emerges, everything disintegrates. The songs bring the moment of creation to life. Sometimes you dream yourself into post-rock, then you turn towards drone and finally find yourself in a wide and open ambient landscape.