gilles aubry s6t8r

Steve Reich is 'Different Trains' connects his own childhood experience of train traveling with the deportation of the jews in nazi Germany at roughly the same time. The links of nazis and trains is also made by Gilles Aubry on his new CD 's6t8r', in which he recorded the empty rooms of Stralau 68, a former venue in Berlin. To amplify the sounds he had to put the levels of recording all the way, thus also capturing the trains outside. The press release reads about the various cultural meanings of train travel, but I merely see that in this work as an extra layer of sound. Aubry records 'empty' spaces and then treats the resulting sound into a massive block of sound. Quite minimal and drone like in the first part, but the second part, which starts out as an expansion of the first, develops into an almost musical piece, with sounds bouncing in and out, almost like a factory starting up, machines being switched on. A great menacing piece of music. In the third and final part it seems as water sounds play a part, but no doubt here the trains play an important role. Quite a great CD of drone music that stems from the world of field recordings and surely one of the best works I heard from Aubry so far.

reviewed by frans de waard in Vital Weekly 703
11-03-2009