According to the liner notes, Brombron is "a joint project by extrapooland staalplaat and receives financial support from mondriaanstichting." Quite what all that means, I don't know, but apparently theboys got some studio time to work on this record specifically. And itwas money well spent for their patrons because this is an excellentexposition of the more musical end of microsound-style laptopcomposition, a subgenre put decisively on the map by ChristianFennesz's low-bitrate eye-opener 'Endless Summer.' As on Mathieu's equally pleasing 'frequencyLib' album, much of thealbum is about processing samples from hinted-at sources and givingthem a new identity, but there's also nice use of a field recording andoutright, er, covers, you might say. Unlike many records in themicrosound genre, no harsh noise pieces are found here. Instead thereare thirteen subtle tracks, starting with the straightfireworks-field-recording-and-organ of "New Years Eve". (Clearly JimO'Rourke didn't exhaust the potential of recorded fireworks on GastrDel Sol's 'Camofleur'.)
Other highlights are the processed warble of "Turkey Song"—a revivalisttake on Peanuts which clearly influenced the soundtrack picks in 'TheRoyal Tenenbaums', and which, along with "Vinnie's Theme", punctuatesthe album with a sense of humour. A further bonus is the special cardpackaging, unique to the Brombron series, which holds the CD in placewithout a spot of plastic, glue, or even one of those annoying Mort AuxVaches fold-out clips. The record's been out the best part of a year,and is apparently limited, so seek out a copy while you can.
samples:
