Gesellschaft Zur Emanzipation Des Samples
More Circulations
2012
Literally hot off the presses – released on January 27th, 2012 – comes the latest release of Jan Jelinek's Exotica and Easy Listening audio collage project Society For The Emancipation Of Sampling. More Circulations lifts off where Circulations ended by featuring a successful mixture of looped samples, field recordings and obscure Exotica records. The fictional Society tries to show the flaws and grey areas of the old copyright laws of the last century that become more and more obsolete or hindering in the 21st century. Jelinek plays or records music in public places and re-uses these field recordings in his vignettes. Once something is taking place outside and publically, you can record and rework it, right? Well, lots of lawyers still beg to differ, and that's why Jelinek chooses this approach and amplifies its interesting dimension by creating nice collages out of these ingredients.
My biggest gripe concerning Circulations has been the quick pace of its tracks that are jam-packed with different ideas. Once you were getting used to a certain sound or setting, a shift occurred that would take the collage into a totally different, seemingly arbitrary direction. Despite these minor flaws, Circulations succeeded in transporting a different blend of exotic settings. On More Circulations, Jelinek luckily decides to present a more melodious, song-based structure. Though all 4 tracks are way below the 3-minute mark and the EP is just a mere 8 minutes and 44 seconds long, there's plenty of time to carry the ideas and moods more effectively than before, making this a less abstract, more soothing release. The locations of the field recordings are particularly interesting, ranging from such exotic locations as Copenhagen's Tivoli Garden to a hotel lobby in Lanzarote, an island I incidentally happen to know all too well. This could be marketing hogwash and would play perfectly with the expectations and dreams of the Exotica crowd.
Irrelevant Sound Effect is a mere 2 minutes long and features fantastically soothing string fanfares which are spiced with the cries of seagulls and babies, playground field recordings and clarion bell pulses. I don't know the origin of these strings, but think of Henry Mancini's Lujon and triple the rapturous qualities of its sleeziness. Despite being the shortest track of the EP, the term sound collage doesn't fit as much anymore, for the strings are the focus and every other element an added bonus – and not vice versa. Besuch Aus Der Unterwelt (Visit From The Underworld) features loops of haunting fairground organs, acid-like synth noises, muffled bass pulses and hints of mallet instruments. The only clearly audible field recording is a distinct remark of a guy whose language I cannot decipher. The underworld-like elements of purgatory are probably the organ loops, for they sound eerie and unpleasant and yet cannot be forgotten that easily once they choose a listener as their victim.
Es Vermitteln: Lautsprecher (Conveying Right Now: Loudspeakers) is a vibraphone-laden track that starts with a short park scenery before the vibes are twisted, played backwards and accompanied by fake bird noises – probably just weirdly played violins –, exotic percussion and flittering synth pulses. The Exotica factor is quite high and the way the song is presented is similar to Jelinek's Circulations album where several elements were played backwards and modulated in resemblant ways. The final piece is called Moderne Musik (1965-1985) and is probably the best collage with lucid percussion, bongos, rattles and bamboo drums, the sounds of creeky doors or treasure boxes and Space Age strings. And indeed does the catchy percussion derive from Michel Magne's interpretation of Bahia off his 1962 Exotica classic Tropical Fantasy. Mellow bass lines are added and the pitched mumblings of Middle Eastern fellows end this ultra-short but long-awaited EP.
4 tracks and a runtime below 10 minutes is quite short even by the 12" standards of the technicolor years. Still, More Circulations isn't a lackadaisical effort, but features the same careful setup that listeners can expect from all of Jelinek's different monikers and styles. There is no dud on this EP, every track is a winner and perfectly balanced, though Besuch Aus Der Unterwelt is tendentially spooky to my ears, but your opinion may vary. Even if you seperate the collages from their socio-political implications, this EP, in the end, is just plain fun to listen to. The moods are very exotic and soothing, and the stronger focus on strings and melodies is a huge plus. Since all bullet points of my previous criticism have been erased and refined by Jelinek, I rate this EP highly and am looking forward to an irregular resurrection of material by his Society. It may be short, but also more coherent than Circulations, which remains a joyful ride through audio samples, voice snippets and exotic places nonetheless. So to me, there's not even a shadow of a doubt: More Circulations is a proper Exotica release with an Ambient attitude and a befitting front cover, and it is as good as it is short, period.
Exotica Review 028: Gesellschaft Zur Emanzipation Des Samples – More Circulations (2012). Originally published on Jan. 28, 2012 at AmbientExotica.com.