smip . Boris Hegenbart
quecksilber 3
2003. cd . dl
"There's an almost overwhelming sense of sonic flotsam and jetsam washing around the listener's ears. It's difficult initially to discern structure or intention. There's a strong sense of ennui (if Eno hadn't already nabbed the title Thursday Afternoon, Boris might have usefully deployed it for this release). While listening to this time seems to slow down and twist back on itself in a slightly queasy manner. (…) The thirteen pieces are composed of the loam of hesitant conversation conducted in a variety of languages, waiting room ambiences, the pings of disposable electronic devices, the distortion of poor recordings, the underwater acoustics of marine life. (…) As I listened to this cd I found myself staring anxiously and vacantly at a jar of lime pickle on a side table a couple of yards away."
(Colin Buttimer, BBC Music Online)
Hikuioto, the debut cd of Boris D Hegenbart, ends with a leap. 500 copies in handmade paper-covers have spread out in ripples across the world. A frog leaps into a pond. What remains is digital silence.
[smip], years later, the reappearance on a marketplace, surrounded by chirping, squeaking sheet metal toys. An orchestra is tuning their instruments a Japanese woman wishes they would never stop. The audio head descends onto the tape. Hong Kong roars and coos. A woman lets the pages of a book glide through her hands. 25 pastilles bang against each other.
[smip], the second solo cd of [#/TAU], is a narration about encounters. Recorded in cafes, back rooms, in attics and in streets. 13 miniatures, music in little boxes. Places to keep minute objects in, crumpled up sketches, handsome things, space junk and the like. 13 Encounters, 12 dialogues. Everyday poetry, driven, harried and carried by electronic impulses and shimmering planes, anchored in grounding bass sounds, electrified by a whirring current. Nothing much is happening when the air is tight.
[#/TAU], founded in 1996 by Berlin-based computer-sound-artist Boris D Hegenbart, is a project, which from its very beginnings strove to combine electronics with human sounds. Initially hailing from dub music, Hegenbart is now better known for his filigree sound-poetry. The sound material used is comprised of cut-ups, field-recordings, purely synthetically generated waves, 9 kHz atmosphere... Live, [#/TAU] improvises solo pieces and interacts with instrumentalists.
Co-operations and collaborators include Werner Dafeldecker, Dean Roberts, Ulrich Krieger, Reinhold Friedl, Felix Kubin and John Butcher among others.
www.soundblocks.de