The second Clop Neplat release is a double LP. The first piece of vinyl is all new material, while the second features remixes from the debut CD’s material by Lasse Marhaug, Niko Skorpio, Kapotte Muziek, Medit, Janko Krul’ Albanskaj and Augustus M.
Released on Some Place Else’s sublabel VoimaKäyrä: Powerwave Unlimited. The sublabel(s) would be terminated shortly afterwards.
HAM 011 DLP
2xLP, black vinyl in stickered disco sleeve, edition of 210 copies.
Reviews
“A while ago an interesting, obscure CD was released, simply entitled CD1 by Clop Neplat and this new release is both a retrospective as well as a follow up to that CD. One LP is new material by Clop Neplat, and other are remixes by various friends.
The new work sees a continution of the work on the CD. Slow, at times pulsating pieces, in dark ambient industrial setting. At a few occasions Clop Neplat bursts out into howling noise, but it is kept to a minimum. The ‘softer’ pieces are more intense, building to nice crescendo’s.
But what is there to remix? Clop Neplat’s music is already full of sounds, and there are no beats to pick… 10 years ago this would have been called ‘recycling’, but the times are ah-changing, and so does it’s vocabulary. Of the remixers, only the names of Lasse Marhaug and Kapotte Muziek will ring the vaguely familiar bell. Marhaug opens up ith decayed drones, which quickly distorts into noise and ends with the shimmering of nordic sun never fading. Kapotte Muziek takes likewise drones, but kept to a minimum, like a cosy campfire. Last on this side is Medit, who a more synthetic approach to the offered drones. Niko Skorpio goes into low resolution sampling and guitar effects. Then Janko, Krul’ Albanskaj, more like Medit and quite static. Augustus M. takes also the cheap foodpedals for the most noisy version of it all. With the limitation offered by the original, a likewise limited remix version…
(Vital Weekly)
“Sounds sound as black as the vinyl its engraved into, but put in no political / philosophical context. Some time ago Clop Neplat (Mads Staff Jensen) released his debut-cd (not surpisingly entitled CD1) on the same label, and Norwegian contemporary music took on a new and fresh (if that is the word) direction.
The first album in this double set consists of new material from Clop Neplat. Side A starts with a metallic drone piece, lighter than his previous work, but just as disciplined. Electrical waves in the background, a high-pitched twirl, a hiss ‘kicks off’ more electrical wind, extreme panning, almost silent, loud, then ending.
In the second piece high-frequencies spin over an alarm-like drone, crashes crash, lo-frequent power, a piano-chord?, bursting into harsh noise, from there on it goes on (perhaps to unknown areas of your subconscious mind?).
Third piece is based on a somewhat simple soft-techno loop (not for dancing, that is), stomping its way, almost annoying, with various digi-effects cutting in and out of the mix, ok the way pitch variations makes it stumble, but in general not to my liking at all.
Side B immediately makes me forgive / forget the technonsense, as the first piece slides into my ears gently, with a really highpitched (sinus) sound taking a firm grip on my attention, delicate fuzz-crashes ornamenting the track, after a while the feedback-tone takes charge, shining like a jewel, with broken sounds shattered all over the room.
Second piece is a slow three-step loop, a new pulse is added, like a dada-clock, a third loop tries to break in but is held back, a fourth is almost unhearable, a deep drone is laid down but disappears, the first loop starts to variate, and that´s that. Nice.
The third piece starts more powerful and static, also this with a sinus-like tone on top, but more descreet, extreme stereo-panning and more tick-tock, waves almost sounding like gentle horns building up (associations go to the works of Jliat and Nitsch, but more electronic), things happen inside, chords even?, stronger as the track streches in time, then fades, ends…
Five out of six tracks is brilliant, and I have been awaiting this album impatiently. The second album consists entirely of remixed material from the debut cd. Side C presents remakes by people from the new Norwegian scene (Lasse Marhaug and Medit), intersected by notorious Kapotte Muziek. This is a very delicate form of ‘minimalism’, but still very powerful in unusual ways. Lo-pitched thunder, gravel, heartbeats, wind, I don´t know. Momentum music?
Side D starts with a remake by label manager Niko Skorpio, and continues with what is to me unfamiliar projects (Janko, Krul’ Albanskaj and Augustus M.). It is as dark as the C side, but slowly includes more treble, in shifting pans of somewhat more rhythmical patterns, and some descreet pieces of collage. The end track is a flanger-remake, more dynamic than the others, which is not necessarily positive, to me it sounds kind of creepy actually. Even the occasional vinyl-sparkling seems to find its place in these (re)compositions.
All in all this confirms my honest belief that there´s many interesting things going on in the new Norwegian scene. And the works of Clop Neplat will stand as a pillar (together with Deathprod and I guess Arm if they don´t change their direction too much) when history sums up the ‘true arctic ambient’.”
(Origami Republika/ting)