Pawlowski, Trouve and Ward – Volume 2
(Jezus Factory Records)
CD / DL
Out Now
7.5 / 10
Trio follow up their debut project ten years
after initial release.
The word ‘eclectic’ was probably made for album like
this. Three musicians, each with very
varied styles, contribute one section each to an album which isn’t always easy
on the ear but does go where many others fail to reach.
The trio have one common bond in that they have
all played with Belgium’s most famous musical act, dEUS, interestingly all at
different periods during the bands lifetime with Mauro Pawlowski still playing
an integral part. Perhaps equally
fascinating, if not more so, is that the members have all played together at
the same time with Kiss My Jazz, iH8 Camera and The Love Substitutes.
Merging three artists with very different agendas
into one album could be nigh on impossible so the decision to allow each one to
contribute one third each seems a simple solution. Taken as a three chaptered project, it works
as three minds are allowed to work independently without compromise.
Hailing from Scotland and the sole non-Belgian,
Craig Ward submits just four tracks to start the album. His style is one of ambience and electro-gaze
and its wonderful stuff. Never moving
beyond pure calm each piece is structured and clinically wholesome with
interesting effects that move in and out of a subtle soundscape. In The Wet Maze is particularly hypnotic with
a single tone that carries several addition sounds throughout, and Island To
Any Island projects a feeling of journeying a boat over freezing waters through
snow caves and to icebergs. The tracks
often appear to glisten and echo with sharp attention to detail, and are often
quite beautiful.
From one extreme to the other the contribution
from Mauro Pawlowski is said to be a ‘failed and lost 80s blockbuster movie
soundtrack’ and it’s easy to see where that statement comes from as first track
Attention: Music is dark and expansive with seemingly random soundbytes over a
deep bass backing. Four parts to Quiz
Master Ghost Animal are interspersed through the eleven Pawlowski tracks and
contain what sounds like either a seal or dog barking at (ir)regular intervals. It’s mad to say the least and maybe sounds
like a B-rated game show rather than a movie accompaniment. Much of the pieces are short incidental
affairs with In Ancient Times and It’s Gone being the cream of the crop with the lead up to In Starlight a frankly
awful MOR pop-rock track akin to the likes of Heart, Chicago, Survivor and all
those other groups many of us would like to forget.
Rudy Trouve brings an experimental pop flavour to
proceedings with tracks with wonderful names such as My Nerves Are Stretched So
Far They Have Become Like Violin Strings, a short violin accompanied dictation
creating an acute anxiousness like a psychiatrist patient extoling his
woes. Torch hides a catchy tune under a
chaotic backdrop of screeching and heavy guitars riffs, and Open The Window On
16th June 2013 is easy on the ear and simply projects the album
title into view. The highlight of
Trouve’s work comes in Thin Can, a gorgeous modern-day music box with serene
vocals and gentle guitar strums which is surprisingly addictive and memorable.
Volume 2 isn’t mainstream, but then, who really
wants that nowadays? It is in reality a brave attempt to ‘please everybody’ and
for the most part will do. Interesting
and almost indispensable.
Published on Louder Than War 23/01/17 - here
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