Getting a vague low-grade surrealist sci-fi vibe from Xenotopia (COL LEGNO WWE 1LP 20469), an assemblage put together by Italian fellow Simon Öggl for this Vienna label.
At first spin it seems heavy on the electronic elements, all programmed and synthed by our man in the chair, but it turns out a number of acoustic musicians have lent their trumpets, flutes, trombones, guitars, strings and woodwinds (and their singing voices) to the collective effort. Simon Öggl is gifted enough a musician to blend in all these contributions to produce a convincing set of instrumentals, and more than once there’s a “cinematic” feeling wafting in through the skylight of the studio. Track titles seem to allude to travels to an alien world, and the demented cover art proposes an impossible landscape where perspectives are going crazy, yet there’s still time for some form of agriculture and exploration in among the weird trees and clouds.
Press notes suggest this landscape is balanced precariously “between affiliation and alienation”, but the user-friendly music indicates that, for the most part, Simon Öggl has little interest in exploring the darker side of human nature. Polished studio tracks, sometimes veering towards a stilted cerebral take on drum-n-bass, are his stock in trade. If you have the taste for more, Öggl also plays in the Viennese quartet Drahthaus, who play a form of ambient lounge electro-pop according to some sources. (19/12/2024)