Reviews 362: Peter & Patrick Jahn
The most recent 7” selection from Growing Bin Records is a cross-generational affair, with a father and son presenting sympathetic, yet varied takes on a slow motion balearic bomber. As the story goes, the younger of the Jahns–Patrick–found some old cassette tapes, one of which featured “naive synthesiser experiments and carefree noodling” from his father, Peter. Back in the 80s, Peter owned a pub called Schrank with an upstairs office used for studio experimentation and at some point during his auditory travels, the DIY explorer hit upon a breathtaking expanse of horizontal groove mesmerism, one that saw big-bottomed squelch basslines, hypnagogic funk beats, and downer guitar strokes jamming through clouds of orchestral ocean magic while spaghetti western reeds flow across otherworldly desert landscapes.
After Growing Bin main man Basso got wind of Peter’s achingly powerful slice of downbeat boogie, he invited Patrick to present his own interpretation of the track. And while Patrick certainly pays loving tribute to his father’s work, his version is also a rather radical reconfiguration. Present still are the Yamaha DX7, the Roland VP330 string machine and vocoder, and the wavetable synths, though Patrick augments the proceedings with additional rhythm machines, mellotron samples, and liberal doses of echo-soaked dub drum psychedelia, all of which come together for a doped out and ever-evolving dreamspace stomper. Best of all, the original’s already massive bassline has been transported to a Moog Minitaur, and is now rendered so huge and physical that it threatens to knock the Earth off axis with each and every hit.
Peter & Patrick Jahn - Abenteuer überm Schrank (Growing Bin Records, 2020) Peter’s original’s 1987 version of “Abenteuer überm Schrank,” the title of which aptly translates to “Adventure Above Schrank,” comes to life on squelching basslines…these mutant monstrosities…like big bulbous Italo grooves repurposed for twilight melancholia. Clipped guitars scratch out solar funk riffs while droning orchestrations and choirs of the abyss billow outwards in every direction, with walls of desperate moaning completely subsuming the spirit. The drums work into a sort of low slung and funked out machine break, which swings infectiously as further blasts of heatwave synthesis swim across a sunset sky…the sounds evoking the motions of liquid starlight. At some point, a harmonica or melodica-type lead emerges, which brings evocations of seaside ghost towns, cinematic gun duels, and saloon doors swinging from the unseen motions of ghosts. It’s a spaghetti western film score made for inhabitants of a haunted and faraway moon, with spacesuits and cowpoke garb smashed together…like a sonic an exercise in filmic retrofuturism. As the track progresses, dub inflected clacks breath in the distance and synthetic reed instruments continue their sad songs of enchantment until the rhythms suddenly fall away, leaving space at the end for one last dash of seaside desert melancholy. And here at the conclusion, I’d like to mention the restoration work Sergey Luginin, who took what was obviously a very degraded tape and somehow extracted a shimmering sonic gem.
As for Patrick’s 2020 version, kick drums, snare, and toms splay out as tambourines jangle over sub bass thunder pulses. Dubwise claps, rimshots, and woodblocks further color the spectrum and shakers spit fire until everything cuts out, resulting in a stretch of emptiness filled by pads that move like an ocean of starshine...their melodies teasing out now-familiar themes over Carpenter-style horror movie Moog bass. The beats rejoin the city leveling basslines for a momentary hint of the original version’s groove, but everything breaks down once more and the yearning reed leads finally emerge to sing their songs of oceanic desert mysticisms while melodica-evoking dub breaths flutter through celestial ether. Kicks slap and abstracted claps fire as it all finally locks back in, now with the chest caving bass progression finally allowed its full form and blinding waves of Mellotronic magic blowing across the stereo field. Psychoactivating panoramas of dub fx hit from all directions as the rhythms take on an even more enhanced G-funk swing, with tons of shuffle kissing the double-time hi-hat patterns…the track almost daring you not to nod your head and lose yourself to the groove. Percolating reggae chords spread outwards like discrete wavefronts of moonlight and the jam starts to loosen, with frog song squelch textures and liquiform pads swirling together. And as the atmospheric and melodic elements suddenly pull away, we find ourselves in a heady club drum vibe out, with the stomping rhythm box jams and mammoth Moog basslines riding alone before being increasingly accented by fluidic chord flourishes, delayed dub riffs, and searing waves of Mellotron string magnificence…all while the pleading harmonica-style leads weave lonely desert dreamspells
(images from my personal copy)