Ekoplekz - Memowrekz

And here I thought that Mordant Music could not get any stranger as a label, how wrong I was. This is the latest full-length installment of ferrous based deviation from Bristol's Ekoplekz. Now you may well be wondering, what's it sound like or what's it all about. I'll tell you, this thing is mammoth. One hundred thirteen minutes long, spread over two cassettes or in my case, two cd-rs as I went the digital route. I was grinding my neurons into one another for some time as a sort of cerebral endurance test until I hit upon the idea of playing it back to back with 'Adenoids' by Severed Heads and the 'Attic Tapes' from Cabaret Voltaire. Upon doing so, "Memowrekz" made a lot more sense. It almost fell into some kind of obscure order. The contents becoming much less volatile when combined with it's ancestors. It is a continuation of exceptionally hallowed musical ground. Nothing is sacred, no one is safe.

This fellow has plenty of his own merit, "Memowrekz" is like being turned loose inside a madman's laboratory with all the keys for every possible drawer and filing cabinet. The amount of styles he goes through and his unique ear for melodies is not to be discounted or dismissed. He'll utilize any audio variable to make his point, be it a samba beat or a tango tempo which can only be described as wonderfully damaged. Truth be told, I hadn't heard this guy until this release but I'm hooked. He's done a single from this monster even! On vinyl. With a color scheme that would make any hospital administrator quite proud. Baron Mordant regards this man as a sorcerer, I'd term him a chemically attuned sonic engineer. Where this train ends up or if it even stays a train is something I haven't a clue about...

It is imperative that one listens to this thing completely (yes, asking for undivided attention from the listeners once again) because otherwise, even if you own Adenoids or those insidious Attic Tapes, you won't be able to get your bearings in a maelstrom such as this. I've played it for others and one of them said it was like listening to some kind of creature on the prowl and perhaps it is. There have been more than a few times when I've uneasily looked over my shoulder not quite sure if I'm the only one in my apartment.

Each piece (thirty three in total) moves about with surprisingly nimble agility. You'll be zoning to the final frontier during one and then you find yourself in an aural wonderland filled by echoes, reverb and prepare yourself for it: electric guitar being passed through the digestive tract of Ekoplekz. This, more than anything else, is what stays with you once "Memowrekz" has finished playing: he's consuming the recognizable aspects of many genres and then dissolving them in an acidic cauldron brimming with strange sounds and bubbling, prescient intent. Once liquified, all these elements are then re-constituted into something one hundred and eighty degrees removed from where they began. It is for this reason I'm still playing the damn thing non-stop.

People can say what they like about the no-man's land Ekoplekz inhabit but I for one feel right at home. Definitely one of the oddest collections of synthetic confectionery I've come across. The boundaries of what could be conjured up through the medium of electronic manipulation have been pushed back yet again and as we pass over this newly exposed territory surely other organisms will appear. Unflinchingly colorful excursions for the late night hour, put out those lights. It's time to let the mind unwind, Ekoplekz style; auditory omnivores, this one's for us. Apr 04 2011