On September 10, Submarine Broadcasting Company will release a powerful, pulsating album from a dynamic German duo, Stringmodulator.
What makes Stringmodulator's Manifesto: Noises Made by Guitar and Base special is that its artists, Jan Quednau (bass) and Fabian Chmielewski (guitar) do, in fact, "string" their compositions through the aforementioned instruments (the sounds of which are filtered by a basic, two-track machine and I might add, with no overdubs). Against the odds, the resulting range is nothing short of spellbinding.
Manifesto sounds like Vangelis on speed or steroids or some transcendental concoction that mere mortals have yet to conceive. The concept is seasoned with a cool Krautrock strut, but that's only the start. There are vibrations (and moods) snapped from "Blade Runner", "Forbidden Planet", and "THX 1138", though often accelerated to a point that would make Barry Allen dizzy and faint. Indeed, these pulsations do ease when required, but only to prepare and pacify one's mindset. That speed--that righteous zeal--remains just an eager chord away.
One might presume Manifesto to be chaotic based on that implication, but this musical masterpiece captures a steady stream of hope and strength. The intent is symbolized best in "Thump and Shriek" and "Betwixt and Between", where the shove against suppression surges within the compositions' transitioning planes and peaks.
Manifesto's additional chapters fortify these governing tracks, with "Prologue"; "Horror Vacui" and "Quiet Place" assisting as reasonable lead-ins or interludes (drum-roll substitutes, if one will). "Echo Chamber" and "Guitar Sabotage" represent more defined (though no less raw) remissions, whereas "Growl", "Miles' Backing Band" and "White Noise" capture those pivotal periods when one has no choice except to stand up and swing.
Through Jan and Fabian's functional "noise", I morphed into Mad Max, John Carter and Captain Scarlet, roaring my engine, swiping my sword and blasting my pistol into the symbolic wind, liberating the persecuted, impoverished and enslaved per the most basic, immediate means: my heart and soul...or should I say, my bass and guitar?
If you possess the respectable fortitude to listen, Manifesto's unfettered construction will make you a champion, too.
Join the Stringmodulator uprising today at ... https://submarinebroadcastingco.bandcamp.com/album/manifesto.
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