“There is a fascinating symbiosis behind all this noise which in the end finishes to be an intelligent mix between an abstract concerto and progressive electronic music”
1 Chez Thomas 1 16:07 2 Chez Thomas 2 13:43 3 Chez Thomas 3 8:25 4 Chez Thomas 4 17:12 5 Chez Thomas 5 11:40 6 Chez Thomas Soundcheck 2:34
(DDL 69:45) (V.F.) (Ambiosonical, neo-prog electronic and abstract music)
Cracklings, white noises and statics sizzlings accompany the soft floating waves which pave the way of Chez Thomas 1 towards our ears. Layers of a very touching voice and notes of a wandering guitar adorn an electronic landscape of which the sweetness is multiplied by these synth layers and lines which travel between cosmos and Chez Thomas. This opening of the last offering of Centrozoon amazes by its musicality and its tenderness. Hears well that Markus Reuter is starved for bizarre sounds with his guitar and his noisy layers/riffs which make very contrast with the soft chords and layers from Bernhard Wöstheinrich's synth and keyboard. But Centrozoon being what he is, the tumult sprays the serenity of Chez Thomas 1 towards a cacophony where all the sound elements communicate in a tower of Babel. And like each time, we are being surprised by this din which eventually lays a fascinating cohesion. Melodious? Hardly! As far as we like the signature of King Crimson's improvisations, we plunge cheerfully in the universe of this duet with a very eclectic vision of progressive electronic music. The rhythm becomes very pulsating with a flow always increasing and a meshing between a movement of sequences and a line of percussions which dismember an already spasmodic skeleton. Markus Reuter's guitar roams like the specter of Robert Fripp on this last portion of Chez Thomas 1 which is surprisingly musical.
We keep following the North American tour of Centrozoon by the means of a series of recordings of these concerts that the duet Wöstheinrich/Reuter proposes on the download site of Iapetus. 217 III is a part of an impressive collection of these recordings which now counts 12 albums, all available in digital format only. This last stop brings us in the city of Mount Laurel, in New Jersey, more exactly at Chez Thomas on November 5th of 2016. The recording is presented such as recorded, that is without fineries nor gilt, and proposes 5 evolutionary structures which go from noisy ambient moments to cacophonous progressive E- rock which are more attractive than repellent. In brief, EM without brands. Otherwise abstract music! But a rendezvous with Centrozoon always stays something very satisfying. Let's hear Chez Thomas 2 which proposes a concert of very diversified bells in order to conquer our ears. The movement is without rhythm, but very noisy with good percussive effects which sneaks throughout a thick painting of colorful chimings. A bass line snores in the background while the angelus pursues its tinkled homily. Very frankly, Chez Thomas 2 seem to go nowhere. And the last moments prove us that one should never throw the towel too fast with Centrozoon, because the title stretches a finale in a slow but lively evolutionary phase. Chez Thomas 3 comes along with a heavy, ambient and gradually cacophonic structure. After an introduction of dissonant ambiences, the riffs of guitar and the percussions get bickering. And it's this latter which win the debate by structuring a rhythm clearly more lively which melts on the other hand rather quickly in this blaring ambience stoned to death by riffs and by good effects of percussions. Chez Thomas 4 shows confusion between ambiences, noisy rhythms and these melodic effects shucked like shame in time. The bass line waves lustfully on a structure sometimes seraphic, moved by a nice layer of voices, and sometimes cacophonous propelled by riffs, jingles and noisy effects. Chez Thomas 5 offers another structure signed Centrozoon. A structure where reigns a disorder semi harmonious and semi organized and where the chaos of sounds and of the percussive effects sculpts transitory rhythms before benefiting from a more serene second part with stars which tinkle on riffs always thirsty but more and more satisfied. And if you have this desire to kick down wide open your ears or to scare off the neighborhood, one puts the volume of Chez Soundcheck at its highest point and we wait, and we listen the storm passed by… There is a fascinating symbiosis behind all this noise. For a public fond of sounds above all!
Sylvain Lupari (February 7th, 2018) ***½**
Available at Iapetus Bandcamp
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