“Bouvetoya reaches a peak with an album and a musical pattern to which we grant that very few chances to surprise”
1 The Dawn of the Interplanetary Nation 9:38 2 26 Prosperina 16:08 3 Radio Jupiter 22:2 MHz 12:14 4 The Pillars of Star Creation 15:18 5 Heart of the Magnetar 7:56 SynGate | CD-r MJ02
(CD-r 61:14) (V.F.) (Vntage and New Berlin School)
It's in the intersidereal sweetnesses that begin this 2nd album of Bouvetoya. Foggy synth pads and ambient choirs stretch an astral tune with delicate intonations which break a possible dullness. Chords roam in these cosmic mists, reminding The Dark Side of the Moog IX, from the Namlook/Schulze tandem, which gets lost in the ambient fogs of Pink Floyd and of its Wish You Were Here. Other chords get graft. They waddle stealthily and their ricochets dance with their shadows. The rhythm of The Dawn of the Interplanetary Nation is silhouetted with the most beautiful assets of the minimalist movements. The keys are walking faster and agglutinate in a jerky movement which is growing beneath synth riffs a la Tangerine Dream and twisted synth solos a la Pyramid Peak. Following a delicious evolution, and gather together here and there all the ingredients which built its charm, the beat of The Dawn of the Interplanetary Nation increases the pace, modifying subtly its intonations, to adopt a rhythmic ride of which the pace, more and more accentuated and more and more jerky, runs beneath a salvo of solos and its curves as much coiled up as its ectoplasmic chants.
Contrary to Subtractivate, the 60 minutes of INTERSTELLARPHONIC goes between the mesmerizing charms of retro Berlin School and the most hypnotic one of the New Berlin School. We are at a sonic crossroads where Klaus Schulze and TD are meeting in the more hypnotic moods of Software and of Pyramid Peak, but in a morphic envelope that reminds me of Neuronium's moments of ether. It's what jumps to ears with 26 Prosperina and its long sleep-inducing intro adorned of cosmic choruses and of dusts of prism. Some fine intonations modify the colors of this slow ambient procession which quietly derives towards a more interstellar phase where a mix of cosmic chirpings and black reverberations converge on heavy synth pads to the tones of old organ. These first 10 minutes pass rather well. The sound wealth of this intro is such as that our ears remain captive. And it's doubtless for that reason that the heavy movement of waddling sequences seems not that far. Rather simplistic, but very catchy, this portion of rhythm in 26 Prosperina is waving like the walking of a big goblin. A magician of heavy steps who moves his keys with grace and suppleness, while taking good care to amass here and there pearls which make noise in pads and solos with the flavors as well vintages as contemporaries. It's black and heavy, as if we would mix Tangerine Dream to Arc.
Radio Jupiter 22:2 MHz presents a more chthonian intro with dark choruses and their passive monasterial singings which float in the mysticism of the rippling synth waves. Nice airs of flutes invite themselves in this intro where a fascinating effect of echo adds a depth to a track which leaves the abyss in order to inhale a more cosmic Jean-Michel Jarre approach. Lines of rhythms emerge. Their sequences are champing at the bit. Their bass tones run in all directions. In a figure of static rhythm disordered and rocked by astral synth waves and pecked by cosmic sound effects. The rhythm gets free, bite by bite, of its cocoon of ether, accelerating a cadence which displays big zigzags which are always trapped in a heavy cosmic vibe and of its sometimes very quirky sound charms. The Pillars of Star Creation follows the philosophy of ambiences versus rhythms which enriched the first 3 tracks of INTERSTELLARPHONIC. Darker and noisier, the intro always abounds of these synth pads and chthonian choirs which float among those still twisted solos as well as in chirpings and glaucous pulsations. The rhythm, more delicate, turns up at around the 9th minute. It precedes a delicious moment of meditation with beautiful organ tones pads and follows the lunar curves of those exhilarant movements of Klaus Schulze on Body Love. This is very beautiful. Heart of the Magnetar ends Bouvetoya's second album with another delicate morphic intro where hot breezes are singing charming spectral airs. Heavy reverberations eat up this delicate phase of serenity, plunging Heart of the Magnetar's into a sordid sonic universe where the strength of the movement lies in its intensity. An intensity fed by pulsations and by impulses and whose meshing is drawing a fascinating and powerful ambient rhythm.
No, Subtractivate was not a hitch, nor a stroke of luck! This small project of EM out of the Norway lands mixes talent and creativity in a musical pattern to which we grant that very few chances to surprise. Yes vintage Berlin School will always seduce, but to surprise? This is not still obvious. And nevertheless, Bouvetoya reaches it. INTERSTELLARPHONIC distinguish itself with a delicious crossing between these two kinds of which the antipodes live with moods a little more progressive and where the Gothic and the cosmic are allies to set ablaze rhythms in the forms and the tones each time different, each time very attractive.
Sylvain Lupari (September 20th, 2014) *****
Available at SynGate Bandcamp