Louderbach - Autumn

LOUDERBACH - AUTUMN (M_nus)

We all do it from time to time. Generalise that is. I have to admit that my disdain for anything M_nus put out started in or around 2005 as Mr Hawtin’s twin pronged assault on hipsterism and techno seemed to really take off, and suddenly all manner of Canadians with carefully sculpted haircuts and laptops seemed to be multiplying at a horrific rate, all putting out various intricate excursions staring intently at a Macbook with a smile nowhere to be seen. After a while, you just have to ignore it because we are dealing with a world of music that is so vast that I dare you to try and keep up with it all. You can’t, which is why we generalise. Names like Troy Pierce, Konrad Black or Gaiser or whoever just seem disappear into a fog of generic minimal, hopefully lost forever, and of course the less said about the Cube the better.

So, when a record like this comes out, I must admit that it is a wonderful surprise, and vindication for the label. “Autumn” is a collaboration between him and vocalist Gibby Miller, who has been lending his vocal talents to Pierce’s project since 2004, and had originally been a vocalist in various Boston punk bands. The gothic cover gives you an idea of the aesthetic going on here, but rather than drench everything in a sense of melancholy, this is closer to the industrial fetishism of bands like DAF or Alien Sex Fiend, but shrouded in Pierce’s exceptional production. There are slivers of Joy Division, Oppenheimer Analysis, Throbbing Gristle, Maurizio Bianchi, Suicide and even the avant-garde mysticism of Coil here, given a contemporary rhythm chassis and to my mind none of the tracks pay homage to any specific musical form.

Unlike a lot of albums in this genre, I feel that “Autumn” has a cohesive nature to it, bound together by a strong musical framework and topped off with a dark, brooding atmosphere throughout. If there is a criticism, it’s perhaps that as expected it is somewhat slick. The production is extremely rich, Miller’s voice given all manner of treatments and looming out of the speakers at all time. The title track that kicks off the album gives a forewarning of what’s to come, with the influence of Coil to the fore. “Seems like Static” employs Hawtin-esque bass and simplistic rhythm coupled with the sort of deadpan deliver that one might expect of any manner of 80’s minimal wave vocalists. It grows with a velvet assurance into a sort of sluggish acid-tinged growling monster before ending suddenly, tension growing with the silence. All the tracks segue into one another, and “One Hundred Reasons” stutters along with a disturbing atmosphere in the background before we’re treated to the jerky spasms of “Nothing More than a White Poison”, simplistic, jarring acid lines being complemented by crashing cymbals that mutates and flowers into something truly explosive, if never breaking sweat. It reminded me of a DBX track given vocals by Alan Vega.

Things calm down somewhat with the eerie “She”, which at 7:47 is the longest track on the album, but we’re still given a ride through the darker alleys of Pierce’s musical imagination before what is essentially a Joy Division tribute in “So This is Control”, Miller trying his hardest to emulate Ian Curtis right down to the ever so slightly “crooned” vocals, and to be fair, he does a pretty good job. Spidery noises crackle alongside the insistent post-punk bassline, yet in retrospect although it has a strong immediacy to it, the track is arguably the weakest on the album. “Notes” is more straightforward in its production, being very similar to Pierce’s other tracks, and before long I started to feel that I was listening to a Richie Hawtin mix. After the sinewy start to the album, it’s a bit of a disappointment to enter what I would consider straightforward “minimal” territory, and “Autumn” doesn’t quite hit the heights again, the final tracks not coming close to the dramatic style of the first half.

As such, whilst wanting to give unprecedented fulsome praise to this album, the final tracks do give the impression of this project running out of ideas halfway through, which is frustrating given just how superbly it starts. Yet I also feel that it’s unlikely that you’ll hear something as lush as this for some time, and there’s a quirky resonance to albums of this nature released in summer that give them an unusual edge. “Autumn” is flawed, but maybe it’s time to reassess to a certain extent what M_nus is doing.

Toby Frith