Ar Ker
Carton/Coax/Maison Tempéte, 2020
8/10
A true renaissance band, Sebastian Brun is a drummer, producer, composer, and mathematics enthusiast, and here he adds a healthy amount of electronics to a very exciting and often mesmerizing effort where distortion, repetition, and looping are used very artistically.
After a barely audible field recording “Prelude” opens the disc, “Bob Zarkansyél” uses light vocals and playful percussion in the gentle, almost meditative setting of quiet beauty that’s as precise as it is inviting.
Elsewhere, “Ker” spends 8 minutes embracing a sort of New Age tribal approach that builds into a hypnotic and fascinating display of electronic manipulation, while “Interlude I” recruits an almost sci-fi angle of creative and experimental prowess. “Koroll”, one of the record’s best, then takes on an almost robotic ambience with sublime acoustics, too, that you’re not likely to hear anywhere else.
Near the end, “Empty” glides with a mechanical feel that bridges noise and melody, and “Frozen” finishes the listen with 9 minutes of mysteriousness as innovative drumming and adventurous electronica meet at a very iconoclastic intersection.
Brun always has a lot on his plate, including projects like Paraquet and Horns, among others, but let’s hope he still finds time for solo work as his unique vision is some much appreciated ingenuity, that, amazingly, was recorded with no overdubs.
Travels well with: Mnemotechnic- Blinkers; Subduxition- The Black Point