LP – SVS

Crocodile by Munich born Sebastian Schnitzenbaumer, aka BELP, demonstrates a refined and niche electronics, hovering between radical experimentalism and rhythmical musicality. Founded by Benedikt Brachtel and Daniel Hermann-Collini in 2013 and focused on the organisation of artistic residences, the label SVS Records knows how to move within these stylistic latitudes, a border area where reference points are fewer than in the most specialist niches. A quick look to the title track video is enough to realise how much these imaginary worlds are both contaminated and contradictory: dark circus music passages with Eastern European music vibes are here connected to a psycho, visceral and cyber narration. The following tracks draw the listener into a dreamy condition, full of oblique sounds and cinematic influences, with broken and restless cadences. Different compositions have a chaotic and happily orchestral structure; others are more introspective and hypnagogic, iterated and full of bleeps, whistles and improvisational twists. All of the elements are mixed with virtuosity, craftsmanship and a great care for detail. The album lasts less than thirty minutes. The ten tracks have many jumps and apparent breaks, always brilliantly resolved. The artist shows some plunderphonic skills and the artistry typical of the experienced bricolage used for sonic manipulations, always on the edge between risky assonance and sudden changes. BELP focuses attention mainly on drums and percussive elements, on the combination of melodic parts and hypnotic samples, and gives life to a sophisticated sound design with eclectic and changeable veins. Some might find the framework too fragmentary, but this would be a mistake. We simply think the artist is more interested in evanescent formal expressions and tries to catch the magic of a passage, the energy and the flux of any single action and sound. Maybe the atmospheres he creates are bizarre, but his work is clear and essential.

 

BELP – Crocodile