You may have not noticed, but spring is
administratively here. So I will step away from hardcore for an
instant and introduce you to the ideal soundtrack to listen to as
flowers try to blossom in spite of freezing winds, cold nasty rains
and sticky economical crisis.
Escaped from the depths of a galician
wet forest, Mounqup's first EP is based on a simple but efficient
recipe : a voice that can move even the most mineral hearts
(including cops and tough retired farmers) and home-made samples and
loops as the electronic case for this vocal diamond.
At first, it is hard not to think about
Björk's last musical travels (Vespertine and Biophilia). The voice
is a shape-shifting creature strong as an april sleet or sweet as
some early sunbeams. Fed with simple organic rythms and sounds (made
of wood, metal and flesh), the machines lost their cold martial
indifference and grew around the words like branches of elderberry on a
half-fallen wall.
But the shadow of the islandic vulcano quickly fades away to unveil Mounqup's peculiar small world.
Directly from the start, Moussio moussio and its tired melodica complaint sends you to an unknown part
of Africa, in what remains of a tiny missionary church with no roof
nor believers. The melody crawls out from a decayed organ and, behind
the deserted altar, a woman is singing a bittersweet prayer, maybe to
welcome the day, or to say goodbye to childhood.
The clock is ticking... it's the
beginning of Selfsufficiency. With its reverse beats and reverbed
polyphonic voices, the song leads us to a deserted industrial zone
where white rabbits and fairy choirs shiver and coagulate as ghosts
of ancient watchmakers wander, searching for the gold gearing or a
way to escape Switzerland. Maybe the darkest track of the EP.
O meu primeiro tomate begins as an
extended stay on the periphery of this industrial zone, where the
aluminium silhouettes are slowly becoming a part of the past and the
first fields start to unroll under your feet. You still can hear the
machines panting behind you, but the voices around are getting
clearer and clearer, and finally what started as an evasion ends up
as a flight towards freedom.
And a real love story with the unreal
wax face of... Horst Tapper. Unexpected muse of this strange serenade
mixing Joanna Newsom's vocal chatteries with irruptions of washed-out
african choirs, Derrick doesn't blink nor breathe as Mounqup is
offering him her best track. Like us, the poor Oberinspektor
is impressed by the sudden complexity of the sounds and voices, all
these layers taken from here and there and perfectly adjusted in a
small ode embracing tenderness and anger, love and what's left after,
digital rhythms and heartbeats, sung by the different characters
hidden in Mounqup vocal chords.
The last track is a cover of the Minnie
Ripperton's « Loving you ». Simple as a kiss, it is just
the musical equivalent of waking up on a sunday morning with your
boy/girlfriend on your side. If you don't get your heart moved by her
interpretation of this classic, check a cardiologist (you may have no
heart at all) or send your CV to the IMF (they always need people
like you).
As it may sounds redundant, I won't
explicitly recommend this EP. But don't complain, you've been
advised.
The soundcloud
the facibooky (send a message to purchase the EP)
the objectivity:
well... not a lot, as I must confess Mouqup is a friend of mine.
videos?
- Moussio moussio
- Selfsufficiency
