Jan St. Werner

Blaze Colour Burn

BY Daniel SylvesterPublished Jun 7, 2013

8
Last year, when Mouse on Mars released their return-to-form LP, Parastrophics, many praised the duo for their immaculate blending of not just electronic-based genres, but musical modes and methodologies in general. On Blaze Colour Burn (the debut solo release from MoM's Jan St. Werner), sonic textures and aesthetics are further explored, to the point where the six tracks included no longer resemble the heavily structured electro his group became known for. Working as the preliminary release in St. Werner's Fiepblatter series, Blaze Colour Burn's primary M.O. is to syndicate left-field recording techniques, such as improv, signal processing and algorithm experimentations. On the album's two-part artistic centrepiece, "Spiazzacorte," field recordings are blurred into public performance, as St. Werner edits pieces of an eight-hour recording in an Italian courtyard, featuring street performers, church bells and music spilling out from cafes. Blaze Colour Burn never comes across as heady or thematic as the backstory suggests, resulting in a remarkably uncomplicated, uncultured example of music ingenuity working as a mere ingredient for a greater vision.
(Thrill Jockey)

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