| ***A dark deep probe into the electric Abyss with a light in it's centre. Friends of Monolake and non-clichE technotics take notice. Member from early 80's post-punk band Cortex and grindcore combo Anti Cimex makes his solo LP debut. Jean-Louis Huhta is already an established name on the Swedish underground music scene. "Halfway Between the World And Death", however, is his first solo album. It's a fascinating and suggestive album, filled with surprising elements. Ambient soundscapes are mixed with D,sseldorf-inspired rhythms and guitar loops to form a neopsychedelic musical brew. Song titles such as "Helvete" ("hell" in Swedish) and "Objects Are Sinister" imply that we are dealing with a dark album. And it's shades are indeed dark but not only so. A light is also present and some of the songs have a warm, almost soothing feeling. Jean-Louis started his musical career in the early eighties as a member of the notorious post-punk band Cortex. Just as legendary, if not more so, was the Swedish grindcore band Anti Cimex, in which Jean-Louis played percussion between 1984 and 1987. Since then he has participated in various bands and more or less experimental (art-)projects. Together with Texas Instruments he created rhythm-based, industrial noise and as a member of the art collective Lucky People Center he found his way to the contemporary dance music. He has also tried his hand at funk and go-go music with The Stonefunkers. Today Jean-Louis is involved in a bunch of different projects, among them the noise combo Audio Laboratory and the rock band Skull Defekts (soon to be signed to Tigerbeat 6). Under the name Brommage Dub he and prolific techno producer Jesper Dahlb 0/00ck deal with an unorthodox and dub-inspired form of techno. In the trio Ocsid (disco backwards) Jean-Louis plays "improvisational lounge music". The other two thirds of the trio are the artist Carl Michael von Hausswolff and Graham Lewis, former bass-player for Wire. During recent years Jean-Louis has also composed music for film, theatre and dance performances. "Halfway Between the World And Death" is a laptop-based album, although it also includes some acoustic elements. In addition to guitars, accordion and a small Tibetan bell you can hear Jean-Louis own voice, like a ghost in the machine. Apart from that the album is completely instrumental. Jean-Louis has recorded and produced the album himself and he also plays all the instruments (except on the title track, which features artist colleague Johan Zetterquist on guitar). It is hard to label Jean-Louis Huhta's music. When the notorious underground filmmaker Bruce LaBruce heard a few songs from the forthcoming album he got so excited he immediately explained he wanted to use the music for a yet unmade melancholic gay zombie flick. That speaks for the intriguing qualities of "Halfway Between the World And Death". 30-second MP3 excerpts: Exit
Marja-Lisa
Running Boy
Halfway Between The World And Death
Some Other Place
Assume Formlessness
For Conny
Each Day
Helvete
Suddenly There Is A Change
Furniture To Sit On Kitchens To Cook In Cars To Drive
Objects Are Sinister
Straight To You
Watching The Swells
Memories
Truth Is In The Sound |
