Interesting post today, one small little track amongst the brilliance that is the Deathprod Boxset released on Rune Grammofon back in 2004. This has to be one of the outstanding RG releases ever, compiling some of Helge Sten's most important experimental works into a gorgeous 4 CD boxset that comes complete with a 32 page booklet. These are the kinds of historic releases that make simply owning the MP3's wholly insufficient.
As I am feeling lazy again today I will leave you with a great little synopsis from a Discogs user:
Cultural history preserved. A big gracias to Rune Grammofon for this monumental release, which compiles the collected works of Helge Sten aka Deathprod in one beautifully designed black box.
A former member of cult rock band Motorpsycho and a current collaborator in the improvisational four-piece Supersilent, Sten is a self-proclaimed "non-musician" who likes to compare Deathprod to AC/DC - "it sounds the way it sounds" - but although his style didn't undergo any fundamental changes during the decade (91-01) where these pieces were composed, it's not case of "it all sounds the same", of one trademark form of expression being repeated over and over with minor deviations. So while this box shows a coherent body of work, it's also a varied listening experience - one can trace the evolution from the earliest experiments on the "Reference Frequencies" disc and up to the new "Morals and Dogma" album, but it isn't a simple linear refinement; this release documents experimentation and mutation as well as consolidation.
Deathprod's "audio virus" is the oft-cited key to his unique style; with a studio consisting mostly of antiquated machinery and several homemade "instruments"/devices, there is plenty of "mad science" at work in a Deathprod piece, a meticulous process of sound research and exploration forming the foundation of his work. The results are usually as dark as the box design or indeed the name itself; Deathprod is often the sound of decay, bleakness, austerity. But this isn't cliched "dark ambience"; Deathprod's subtlety and awareness of space makes his music immensely rewarding also after several listens.
"Reference Frequencies" assembles compilation tracks and previously unreleased material conceived over a long time span (91-97). The earliest cassette recordings have considerably shorter pulses, rougher edges and more discernible elements of noise than his later works - genuinely unsettling music. There's also a track that features an intriguing poem read by its author, Matt Burt, where Sten is absent until the four minute mark, where he carefully introduces droney soundscapes to give the piece a resigned, melancholic twist. However this disc also includes two amusing psycho-lounge-space-jazz collaborations with the Jörg Mager Trio and a piece that features violinist Ole Henrik Moe, so this CD is definitely the least consistent of the four in terms of style.
"Treetop Drive" and "Imaginary Songs From Tristan da Cunha" are previously released albums which nevertheless are almost impossible to find as the original releases (from 93 and 96, respectively) were very limited editions. "Treetop Drive" introduces a sound of a more linear and slowly evolving character, the first two pieces containing some quite disturbing/unpleasant sounds (one of the sources on the first track being a violin played by Snah from Motorpsycho). For me the third piece offers the most, with its dark atmospherics and sampled voice (from the radio) talking about the "desensitisation of death" - heavy stuff indeed. "Imaginary Songs..." was composed for Sten's graduation project at the Art Academy in Trondheim. The first four pieces feature recordings of violin improvisastions transferred to a a wax phonographic cylinder (the first sound recording device in history, patented in 1877 by Edison), then recorded to CD again; the resulting sound being very "thin" and, er, weird. Closing track "Contraceptive Briefcase" combines Deathprod's patented waves of Audio Virus with the voices of five women; the composition lasts for half an hour, but keeps momentum throughout - very intense.
"Morals and Dogma", a new album which was also released separately, completes the box. The harsh, abrasive elements of the early "Reference Frequencies" recordings have been erased completely here, and what's left are vast, droney, foggy "sculptures of sound" that appear monotonous on the surface but convey so much emotion and captivating mood that they're miles away from any functional "music that fills the room" definition of ambience; just like a Thomas Köner album, this is music that demands your attention. Overall this is perhaps the strongest of the four CDs.
"Morals and Dogma" also concludes the Deathprod project itself, as Sten has declared that this is now to be considered a closed chapter. Anyway this box certainly closes it in a brilliant fashion, as it effortlessly demonstrates what a visionary musician Helge Sten was during one decade of Deathprod. Very highly recommended.
Indeed.
Deathprod - Treetop Drive 3
