Mamiffer & Circle - Enharmonic Intervals (for Paschen Organ)

Artist: Mamiffer & Circle

Album: Enharmonic Intervals (for Paschen Organ)

Label: Ektro Records

Genre: experimental

Release Date: October 15^th 2013

Mamiffer, a sound-art project from Seatlly and Circle, the ever-changing Finnish experimentalists of whom we've seen quite a lot of work here on Grave Concerns already, have come together to create Enharmonic Intervals (for Paschen Organ).

For the current recording, Mamiffer and Circle stepped away from their earlier efforts, and came together as musicians, starting from a blank slate. The result is a series of estranging soundscapes. In total, Enharmonic Intervals (for Paschen Organ) consists of 6 different tracks (although it is hard to discern the tracks amongst eachoter) good for 43 minutes of music.

Enharmonic Intervals (for Paschen Organ) is the first of what is supposed to be many more collaborations between Mamiffer and Circle. This CD was recorded in a single day at Keski-Porin Kirkko, the nineteenth-century stone church in the heart of Circle's hometown. As such, influence of worship and divinity can be heard throughout the album.

In the center of the Keski-Porin Kirkko stands a giant Paschen organ, which was the starting point for Enharmonic Intervals. Within all the freewheeling and improvising, the presence of the organ brings a steady, sobre, contemplative solid core to the tracks.

Enharmonic Intervals opens and closes with spaced-out calm tracks, and reaches a point of absolute chaos in the middle. In Ektro Records words: “The album opens and closes with slowly building sinfoniettas of sustained drone and flatlining feedback that shine heavenly light onto the wan, academic corpse of avant-garde minimalism.”

In the chaos of the middle of the album, all 4 musicians let their demons out: singing, shouting, mumbling, whatever resides in their subconsciousness had to come out in an almost ritual cleansing.

The result of this recording by Mamiffer and Circle are dark, menacing soundscapes that oscillate between heaven and hell. It's as if the dead are stretching out their hands to touch fingertips to god.

Enharmonic Intervals is an explosion of sound and creativity. At times, however, it seems as if Mamiffer and Circle were just recording this for themselves, refusing to open up a little bit to the unprepared listener. But earthling, enter this strange universe, if you dare...