In 2000, the Reykjavik-based Kitchen Motors began a series of monthly events, featuring collaborations with various musicians and artists who would most often not be collaborating together outside of the live venues. The goals were to be somewhat improvisational, yet somewhat tied into each artist's discipline, while most importantly having fun. The curators documented these events and have compiled various moments onto two CDs now available through a combined release effort through Bad Taste.
 
 
While it's not nearly like being there, these discs provide a good window into what is going on in Reykjavik. Abridged to anywhere from 9 minute to 27 minute excerpts, 'Motorlab #1' features four collaborations. The first up is a piece with music by Stilluppsteypa combined with text of Magnús Pálsson, pulled from a 2½ hour meditation on drugs, religion, folklore and banking to name a few things. Over the course of this track, the music varies from low-volume drones to broken electronics while the spoken voices are all in Icelandic. Next is a collaboration between the CAPUT Ensemble, Hilmar Jensson and Jóhan Jóhansson where a ten-piece wind and string ensemble was matched with electronics and processed guitar. The end result is a wonderful sound which could never be recreated by electronic laptop dronesters alone. The third track, "Junkyard Alchemy", from the Hispurlsausi Sextet was created through a somewhat orchestrated improvisation of sounds created from various items found in a junkyard. While the ideas sound interesting on paper, the recording isn't quite clear. Thankfully cut to under 9-minutes, you hear enough to get the picture that you really just "had to be there." Closing the disc is "Telefonia," a piece which was performed (or broadcast, rather) once every month at a Kitchen Motors event. Here, members in the audience were given a phone number to dial with their mobile phones and leave a message on a voice mail system, which would in turn send the audio through a computer, get processed and sent through the speakers. The loop effects created were interesting but as with the rest of the material on the disc here, the live experience was most certainly more entertaining than a ten minute excerpt. The audio was orchestrated by Curver and the software was written by Andrew Mckenzie of Hafler Trio fame.
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On 'Motorlab #2', the first collaboration takes shape of a miniature opera, based in "lullaby electronics" as described in the booklet. "Kasa" (translated as "Kitty") is scored and performed by Múm, with text written by Sjón and featuring a mezzo soprano and an actress who perform the roles of the outer and inner personna of a housewife in her thirties. The twenty minutes shared between them on the disc are undoubtedly the prettiest music on both discs, where the signature electronic tones Múm are known for combine blissfully with strings, sounds effects, the operatic vocals and spoken monologue. Next up is 26 minutes with music by the Apparat Organ Quartet combined with the shortwaves, morse code, radio buzz and other noise by TF3IRA. Each entity uses outdated technology, whether it's the music creators with old organs or the noise creators with the obsolete communication devices. The collaboration is well-organized and the elements of the live band crossed with low-fi electronicians can be somewhat remeniscent of various post-rock bands and instrumental Throbbing Gristle tracks. The last 15½ minutes come from Big Band Brútal, whose tracks were improvised live to Hugleikur Dagsson's "splatter cartoons" which were being projected for the band and audience to see. The first track is a rough one with screamy Yamasaka Eye like vocals while the other two are rather calm and sedated. Like the last outfit, the music is created of more conventional rock instruments, and would most likely appeal more to the instrumental and experimental post-rockers. Look out for a Pan Sonic/Barry Adamson collaboration for Kitchen Motors, scheduled for this month.
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