Gonzo Circus Magazine In onze biotoop - planten krijgen er geen water, we voederen ze met geluidsgolven - geldt het Japanse Cubicfabric, en het moederhuis Cubicmusic, al sinds hun ontstaan als een keurmerk. Je haalt hun platen slechts met mondjesmaat boven. Bij voorkeur als de nacht valt en we de planten nog moeten voederen. Hun drie platen zijn verpakt in sobere witte hoesjes en de muziek, non-indentified elektronica, is al even minimaal ingekleurd. Vooral het Italiaanse Z_e_l_l_e zweert op ?rjctd::nw1 bij minimale, monotone geluiden. Chirurgische klanken worden met precieze op het zilveren schijfje gepast. Het doet vaak denken aan de Zwitser Ralph Steinbruchel (Domizil, 12k) die eveneens met veel oog voor detail zijn eigen microscopische leefwereld creeert. Vaak haast geluidloos, maar op het zelfde moment erg intens. Dat Cubicfabric de vinger aan de pols heeft bewijzen ze met de remixplaat ?Operette1. Hier laten ze het debuut van het Zweedse Tape (uit op Hapna) vakkundig herkneden door een schare geluidskunstenaars. Herkneden of transformeren zijn de juiste termen want zowel David Grubbs, Pita als Hazard turnen de originele nummers volledig om tot eigen creaties. Vooral de keuze van de line-up - een wie is wie is in het heden en de toekomst van de elektronica - en het hoge niveau van de nummers bewijst dat we nog veel mogen verwachten van Cubicfabric. Uiterst geschikt om uw planten te voederen, maar dat had u al begrepen.


octopus
written by Steven Hearn
 		En 2002, sortait le disque Opera du trio suedois (Andreas Berthling, Johan Berthling et Tomas Hallonsten) qui mariait avec habilete l'improvisation a l'electronica dans une approche relativement experimentale. Du Jazz avant-gardiste, pour faire simple. La qualite melodique des compositions introspectives et sereines de Tape en permettait une ecoute ageable peu usuelle du genre.

A l'inititive du label japonnais Cubicfabric, Operette est un album de remixes electroacoustiques coherents d'Opera. Les participations sont foisonnantes, individuellement riches mais l'ensemble ne peut s'empecher d'etre un peu decousu. Quelques perles minimales et contemplatives au constructions distandues et etirees neanmoins. Les accidents sonores sont discrets, trop ?

Le disque en citation rappellait des payages deserts et infinis, les remixes ne renient pas cette vaine de l'inspiration et propose un travail tres respectueux des codes d'ecriture mis en place par la formation Tape, preservant meme ainsi un certain lyrisme. Les invites au dejeuner sur l'herbe sont David Grubb, Fonica, Pita, Hazard, Stephane Matthieu, Rechord, Minamo? Alternativement lethargique et brouillardeux, cafardeux et ethere, melancolique, mysterieux et angoissant?

Ce qui reste de leur electro, guitare, trompette et clavier : une relecture empathique et affectueuse par quelques musicienx inspires qui reinventent, mine de rien, les chemins de traverses de la musique de demain?.


Sands-zine

Mi sono rimpallato questo CD fra le mani per alcuni mesi, perche da una parte ero soggiogato dal blasone dei nomi mentre dall1altra, ascolto dopo ascolto, il prodotto di tanta dovizia continuava a non convincermi pienamente. Un ulteriore freno era costituito dal fatto che l1oggetto in grado di attirare l1attenzione remixatoria di cosi illustri personaggi, 3Opera2 dei Tape (uscito su Hapna), non mi aveva mai convinto rispetto alla sua presunta bonta. E se non convince lo svasso che naviga a pel d1acqua come puo convincere il suo effimero riflesso che poche increspature si portano via? Alla fine ha prevalso l1idea che il disco valeva comunque una recensione. Il giudizio cosi a lungo ponderato e un po1 pilatesco, nel senso che da un lato riconosco la validita di alcuni brani e da un altro sputo un aspra sentenza sull1insignificanza di altri. Al centro ben ci sta un cuscinetto di limbica inutilita. Forse il disco e anche sciupato dall1ottimo inizio di Grubbs, una magnificenza condotta dall1harmonium fedelmente ancorata al bel titolo, che promette troppo rispetto a quanto verra poi mantenuto. Anche il remix dei Fonica, con il duo accortissimo dietro a un ritmo medio-lento, lascia pensare che il livello globale sara, come minimo, ottimo. E, invece, gia con il terzo brano arriva la prima doccia fredda, perche un Hazard apprezzato in altre occasioni qui fallisce con un iniezione ritmica incredibilmente banale. Rechord, Minamo e Pita non riescono a risollevare il livello, e neppure ci riesce un Oren Ambarchi assurdamente intrippato in un mood spudoratamente fennesziano. Buono, anche se non ai massimi livelli migliori, il pezzo dei Josh Abrams e decisamente riuscito pare, per buona pace dei piu celebri colleghi, l1intervento di Anderegg: una giapponeseria a base di carillon mossi dal vento, con pudico sostegno cameristico, che suona come il miglior Plug miscelato al miglior Nearly God (quelli degli intermezzi). La chiusura spetta in bellezza a Stephan Mathieu, sempre abile nel lasciar scivolare la melodia su se stessa? fluida fino al deliquio. Questa e la sostanza di un CD che, come gia detto, non mi sento pilatescamente ne di consigliare ne di sconsigliare. Avrei potuto attendere qualche altro mese, prima di fare la recensione, ma non credo che sarei comunque giunto a capo di niente. Fate vobis.


Jornal de Letras

Avaliar um disco de 3remixes2 que nao contenha o original e sempre uma tarefa problematica. Quando a musica que foi transformada circula normalmente na rede comercial, mesmo que a alternativa, o problema resolve-se procurando e ouvindo a 3fonte2, mas, e quando se trata de algo, como e o caso, que existiu num meio restrito e muito localizado? A verdade e que os Tape eram um colectivo sueco de improvisacao e electronica que pouco ou nada foi ouvido no resto da Europa ou do Mundo. Resta, assim, lidar com vestigios, os que se deixam adivinhar por entre as manipulacoes desta compilacao, operadas por David Grubbs, Fonica, Hazard, Rechord, Oren Ambarchi, Pita, Minamo, Josh Abrams, Anderegg e Stephan Mathieu. Todas elas dao conta de 3leituras2 muito proprias e personalizadas da musica dos Tape, e se o conjunto agrada, o proposito desta edicao, que e homenagear e lembrar uma formacao ja desaparecida com um projecto proprio, fica por cumprir... O mais curioso ainda e que a etiqueta responsavel por este lancamento, a Cubicfabric, esta sediada em Toquio. Talvez o seu responsavel tenha pensado que, se os Tape chegaram ate ele, por mais estranho que tal pareca, vieram igualmente a todos nos... Ha privilegios, no entanto, que nao se partilham assim tao facilmente, sobretudo nos canais alternativos.


Freemusic

Projekt Tape , jen? je sou?asti ?vedske jazz/improv/elektronicke sceny, tvo?i Andreas Berthling, Johan Berthling a Tomas Hallonsten. Ti, kte?i p?ijali remixersky ukol, jsou vice ?i men? respektovanymi pojmy na experimentalni, resp. elektroakusticke scen?. Jako by ov?em p?ijali spole?nou kartelovou dohodu, ?e nikdo nebude p?ili? vy?nivat z ?ady. Remixove album vam zvolna pro?umi sluchovody a nezanecha hlub?i stopu. Je logicke, ?e ambientni remixy, za n?? se tracky daji ozna?it, v?t?inou nenabizeji vyrazne melodie, proto?e ambient zkratka neni o melodiich, ale o zvukovych plochach, ale na tak?ka p?tapadesatiminutove plo?e by si poslucha? n?jaky ten vyrazn?j?i motiv zaslou?il, pokud tedy nechce Operette / Tape Opera Remixes pou?ivat jako ambientni ukolebavku.

Dohodu o inven?nim neuto?enim ale p?ece jenom n?kte?i ?aste?n? poru?ili: uvodni David Grubbs v Radio Baroque , kterou na?ina sampl jazzovych smy?c? a pokra?uje distorzni kytarou a zvuky housli, nesporne kvality prokazal. I nasledujici japonske duo Fonica pat?i mezi ty, jeji? kombinace ?iveho hrani a elektroniky doka?e zaujmout. Stejn? jako Australan Oren Ambarchi , renesan?ni um?lec tykajici si s folkem stejn? jako s elektronikou nebo free jazem.

Naproti tomu ?vedsky projekt Hazard , aka BJ Nilsen sv?j remix postavil na jednom tech-housovem loopu, ktery ob?as obohati n?jakym tim zvou?kem. Na ?ty?i a p?lminutovy track trochu malo! Pita (aka Peter Rehberg) podobn? jako japonsky electro-akusticky kvartet Minamo pracuje s ruchy a tzv. digital errors - na pozadi jim bzu?i kosmicka tajemnost. Po nervoznim tracku Parfume Joshe Abrahamse (Town and Country, Sam Prekop Band, Sticks And Stones, ...) vas zklidni devitiminutovy "new age" track Japonce Anderegg(a) a v podobn? narkoznim duchu remixuje i posledni Stephan Mathieu , N?mec vydavajici na renomovane francouzske zna?ce BiP_Hop.



etherreal.com
written by Francois Bousquet
 		Trio suedois auteur de deux albums et convie au dernier festival
(K-RAA-K)3 en date, Tape voit son second album, Opera, remixe par dix artistes de haute tenue, pour un disque sortant sur le label japonais Cubicfabric. Depassant le cadre traditionnel de l1album de remixes, Operette voit les artistes convies soit retravailler le morceau initial, soit piocher des bribes musicales dans plusieurs titres du groupe suedois afin de creer un nouveau morceau?; l1ensemble se situe alors peut-etre davantage du cote de la compilation que de l1album de remixes proprement dit.

C1est David Grubbs qui opere en premier en insistant sur la dimension free jazz de Tape, toutes cordes torturees dehors. Ensuite, ce sont les japonais de Fonica qui conjuguent petits larsens et guitare acoustique digitalisee avant qu1Hazard ne produise une melodie metallique soutenue par une rythmique soignee et que Rechord (alias Andreas Tilliander) n1elabore une texture complexe a base de samples picores ca et la parmi les morceaux de Tape. Oren Ambarchi livre, pour sa part, un tres beau titre ou, non content de retravailler le morceau initial, il l1agremente de son propre jeu de guitare, delie et aerien.
Alors que Pita produit son habituelle electronica epuree et tourmentee, Minamo fait dans l1ambient introspective?: trompette lointaine et nappe enveloppante. Josh Abrams se situe, ensuite, a mi-chemin entre ces deux directions musicales, mariant travail sur les textures et presence de glitchs et larsens. Plus long morceau du disque, le titre concocte par Anderegg debute par des petites notes de glockenspiel qui vont etre traitees au fur et a mesure du titre et rehaussees d1autres elements micro-electroniques puis d1une petite guitare pour un resultat particulierement interessant. Enfin, Stephan Mathieu clot le disque par un morceau drone typique : nappe qui va crescendo, superposition de plages et effet hypnotique garanti.



autresdirections
written by stephane
 		Tape, trio suedois jazz, a rajeuni son premier album solo Opera sous la houlette (la souris) d'une multitude de producteurs talentueux et respectes.
De cette louable initiative resulte cette Operette publiee chez le japonais Cubic Fabric (World's End Girlfriend notamment). Apres une ouverture pastorale (merci David Grubbs), la musique de Tape se fige dans une toile impressionniste des japonais Fonica. Ces quelques minutes d'eternite se perpetuent au dela du morceau, jusqu'a ce que Hazard ajoute quelques rythmiques a son remix de Noise From A Hill. Andreas Tilliander sous le pseudo Rechord (cette fois) releve l'ensemble d'un peu de piment, sa restructuration est cisaillee, decoupee. Oren Ambarchi se charge alors de nous replonger dans une lethargie, ses sons se superposant delicatement comme tombent les flocons de neige, peinture abstraite qui vire au brouillard nocture avec Pita (quand meme assez gentil ici). Minamo enchante, a son habitude, decidement quel quatuor etonnant ! Precision et poesie sont leurs atouts premiers. Plus loin Anderegg imagine un vent de bleeps et de sons, et enfin Stephan Mathieu semble decomposer chaque ton originel en une brillance variante. Il est sans doute difficile de considerer l'ensemble de ces travaux lorsqu'on est sans connaissance du disque initial (ce qui est mon cas, vous aurez saisi), mais je me permets tout de meme de trouver cette Operette assez jolie dans son ensemble.


Loop
written by Guillermo Escudero
This is a new release of Keiichi Sugimoto's Cubicfabric label based in Tokyo who belongs to the duo Fonica and collaborates with Minamo.
This compilation contains remixes of the album "Opera" [Hapna, 2002] released by the Swedish electro acoustic trio Tape that is made up of Andreas Berthling, Johan Berthling and Tomas Hallonsten.
In this comp. participate renown sound artists of the computer music field, electro acoustic, glitch and minimal.
"Radio Baroque" is a track with violin and distorted guitar whose sound seems mantra by David Grubbs [Blue Chopsticks, Drag City y ex-Gastr del Sol]. Fonica (the Japanese Keiichi Sugimoto and Cheason) combines glitch with acoustic instruments arming lines melody lines. The Swedish Hazard, aka BJ Nilsen, that records for Touch surprises with a techno beat, while Rechord, another alias of the Swedish Andreas Tilliander, works with clicks, dark atmospheres and glitch. The Australian musician Orem Ambarchi scatters in calm ambient drops of clicks and guitar loops, whereas Pita (aka Peter Rehberg, Mego) it constructs sine waves with digital errors. The Japanese Minamo (apestaartje, 360 Record) uses organic sounds and field recordings (voices, motor engine). Josh Abrams (from the Town & Country group) produces noisy textures and timbres. Japanese, Anderegg presses some bells and at the same time produces a buried noise of low frequencies. Finally, the German Stephan Mathieu sails by undulating sounds that change in an imperceptible form. By the quality of the artists involved in this compilation all of the remixes demonstrate a brilliant work.


VITAL WEEKLY
Remixes is of course something you either like or dislike. Some people will think it's a cheap thing to generate more money and never is better than the original, but others, and I am one, like the idea of taking the original sounds and expanding them. And what could be wrong with remixing one of my favourite bands, Tape from Sweden? They are trio of laptop, guitar, trumpet and keyboards. Here their CD 'Opera' gets the remix treatment of ten reknowned artists. Some stay close to the carefully constructed musics of Tape, but others expand the material. Can you image Hazard adding a techno beat (that is two
surprises: beats for Tape and beats for Hazard)? Or the expanded glitchy keyboards of Andreas Tilliander? Or an ambient approach to the original by Pita? This remix CD has many surprises and is a good defendent of the whole idea of remixes. It also include such fine works by David Grubbs, Fonica, Oren Ambarchi, Minamo, Josh Abrams, Anderegg (great spacious track there) and Stephan Mathieu, and there is no weak brother around.
(FdW)


Igloo Magazine
"microview"
written by TJ Norris		 By taking works from Swedish trio Tape's (Andreas Berthling, Johan Berthling, and Tomas Hallonsten) first recording, the electro-folk "Opera" ten artists have made related works that build on patterns of the originals. David Grubbs melancholic "Radio Baroque" elongates strings and mysterious concave verandas. Tomlabs' Japanese duo Fonica (Keiich Sugimoto and Cheason) make "crossing longitude" like a breezy flight on the expired Concorde. The light phrasing and restrained rewind play keeps the rough organic nature of Tape's original intact but adds a seamless glow of ambiguity. BJ Nilsen as Hazard adds some pretty stunted microbeats to his climbing "Noises from a Hill." Unyielding, though a slight bit boring until it starts to fall apart in its final minute where the craggy edges meet the beats head on and the match just starts, but at only 4 and a half minutes a bit too late in the mix, however. Entering from the Netherlands is Rechord (Andreas Tilliander) who patterns its theme song perhaps on the match-up "taperechorder." This is just plain upright and over - with a slight archival quality of an old jazz record through an 8-track splicer. Juicy stuff.

The recently prolific sightings of Oren Ambarchi doesn't at all effect his brilliant reworking of "Summa Afrique" - in fact this in many ways has what I felt the original lacked, a fluffy, but determined dreamlike quality. It is as if he took their rendition out into the rain and exorcized it from its weather beaten limp frame, cleaned, powdered and dressed it all up for a hovering night on the town. "HBR 64507 mix" is Pita's deconstruction. This gives Peter Rehberg the opportunity to hone in on the finer nuances of his often-caustic edge; Surprisingly ambient with a flare or two, and lots of crisp glitch. Japanese electro-acoustic quartet Minamo (apestaartje, 360 Records) delivers an existential chamber drone on "perse." With a limited flow of quiet harmony they incorporate curves in tonal frequencies with intermittent muffled wind-up gadgets that are glossed over with a breath of air. "Perfume" drifts, perches, and pulsates throughout my head, triggering my senses to imagine that Town & Country's Josh Abrams (Thrill Jockey, Lucky Kitchen) keeps developing his craft in astonishing ways. There is a dissonant message of turmoil in this idiomatic essence filling the air ? a virally potent. (Brendon) Anderegg makes "Bee Song" sound like a toy lullaby. Its semi-sweet sing-song harmony is a welcome treat, with a lighter-than-airiness style - pure, smooth, curvaceous. "a bell made of bones" is the final cut on a close to superb collection. Here, multidimensional sound artist Stephan Mathieu (Fallt, Orthlong, etc.) designs the space inside and out of Tape's original "Bell Mountain" where it just floats by and away. The track becomes a languid fairyland spun deftly through a floral field - an illusion of puffy building clouds, and early warning signs of Spring.

Surely the task for these artists was a challenge to take the originals apart from their many surprising spatial pockets and resonant sphere. Almost everyone here truly zoomed in on the ultra-fine sensibilities of the trio's deranged folk intent.



DE:BUG
written by bleed		 Die schwedischen jazzelektroniker Tape werden hier von Grubbs, Fonica, Hazard, Rechord, Oren Ambarchi, Pita, Minamo, Josh Abrams, Anderegg und Stephan Mathieu geremixt und das ist definitiv eine Bandbreite an verspielt vertrackten Elektronikern und Elektroakustikern, die man nicht oft findet.
Die Musik geht dann auch von geschliffenen Laments uber klickend digitales Sauseln zu leichten Beats, zu loopig orchestralen Stucken, abstrakt nuancierten perlenden Sounds, fiepsig verhallenden Klangskulpturen bis hin zu grossen tragischen Szenenbildern. Sehr schon, sehr ruhig und eine perfekte Erganzung zu den brillianten Tape Alben Opera und Milieu.


FAT BANKROLL
written by Petter Ottosson		 Together with Tomas Hallonsten, brothers Johan and Andreas Berthling constitute Tape. They are all well regarded musicians in their own right. As Tape, they work with a mixture of acoustic, analogue and digital instruments to create something slow and beautiful. Something that we have earlier described on these pages as a christmas tree, were guitar and harmonium constitute the actual tree, and all other sounds make up the decorations, the glitter and those small santa claus figures that kids make at school.

In 2002, the trio released their debut album Opera.. It was released by the label Hdpna, co-run by one of the Berthling brothers. Even though they have now released their second album Milieu, it is their first effort that isnow being shredded to pieces, as the Tokyo label Cubicfabric has decided to release a remix album.

The list of remixers is all celebrities. Some of them are related to Hdpna since before, such as Oren Ambarchi, who has prepared an unusually flowery, clicky song here. Some remixers are Swedish, such as Hazard, who actually has used a techno beat (his first?) and Andreas Tilliander under his Rechord alias, stretching out his dubby synth chords to previously unheard length. Other participants are, of course, japanese with previous relations to Cubicfabric. Among them we find Anderegg and Minamo. There is also a quite impressive group of others, including Pita, Stephan Mathieu and the beautifully depressed strings of David Grubbs.

This is something really rare; a remix album without a bad song and without unwanted changes in style or between genres, something that otherways is almost always present in these cases. Everything is peaceful here, everything gets along and not one single remixer does a bad job. Impressive.



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