p.o.p. (psychology of perception)
Alien Stewardess
JAPAN ZAPPAK 008 2 x CD (2024)
This is the occasional side project of Reinhold Friedl, the German maestro of Zeitkratzer that has realised so many ambitious musical projects…when this combo first came our way in 2013, it was a duo between Friedl and the bassist Hannes Strobl, but by the time of Ikebana in 2017 they’d expanded into a foursome with Nora Krahl on cello and Elena Kakaliagou on French horn.
Here on their third album, the players turn in five extended pieces across two discs; in old-school vinyl terms, we’re looking at a 3-LP box set, such are the durations. It’s possible p.o.p. are evolving into a more cohesive unit, finding territories they want to explore together in long-form mode, compared with the interesting but not very memorable textures found on täbriz. On initial approach, the music feels much more relaxed and less complex than the full-on Zeitkratzer projects, which I tend to perceive as being heavily scored, conceptually very tight, and performed with a near-ruthless precision. Here, drifting and ambiguity are allowed to enter the arena, with no single musician feeling they have to dominate the room; each sound-production event is generally modest, provisional, and considered.
One would like to know more about how the group does what they do, how they arrive at this point; we’re told it’s something to do with “kinetic memory”, a theme which connects all their work and all their releases together. Indeed the earlier topics of carpet-weaving and flower-arranging are deemed to be “research” in this context. In the light of this information, Alien Stewardess may have something to do with “muscle memory”, which I’ve heard used in the context of well-trained and well-rehearsed musicians, who are able to perform remarkable feats of instrumental prowess through the gift of constant practice. It’s as if the body “remembers” what to do, and it’s not simply a question of sight-reading music. p.o.p. may be making capital out of the personalities and individuality of the four very singular players in the room; the aim is to “create a network of interferences”. We are, I suppose, now quite some distance from the kind of precepts proposed by groups like AMM and MEV, which often had political and societal ideals underpinning the improvised works; p.o.p. (psychology of perception) are operating with intangibles, attempting to create music from a nexus of specific personal relationships and memories.
To further the “unknowable” dimension of such a concept, all the tracks are assigned outer-space titles such as ‘Cosmic Concierge’ and ‘Transdimensional Melodies’. Sun Ra, no less a man, would probably tip his turban in respect to that naming scheme, but he was creating far more interesting and exciting group improvisations than this in the 1960s. In its favour, I do like the relaxed demeanour of much of the music on Alien Stewardess, and when they allow certain forms or sequences to be repeated or restated, the music stands on the edge of acquiring an intrigue that makes me want to listen in a little more. But the group take a long time to traverse the cosmos in their ship, the four-person crew acting detached from the matter of internal politics, disregarding the a chain of command, so that they’re all equally willing to defer to each other, and no single person considers themselves the captain. Because of this, I’m not feeling the sense that I’m going to arrive at a new planet any time soon – or even if the craft has taken off from the launchpad yet. Compare with ‘Spacecraft’, the 1967 recording made by MEV in Cologne, and see which recording gives you more lift-off per square inch of rocket fuel. From 2nd February 2024.