DALACHINSKY & THE SNOBS, STEVE - ec(H)o - system

2015 release. "Four years after Massive Liquidity (BBCD 014CD), New York poet Steve Dalachinsky and French duo The Snobs are coming back with a second collaborative record called ec(H)o - system on Bam Balam Records. Since the eighties, Dalachinsky has published poems inspired by William Blake, Antonin Artaud, and the beat generation. Using some of them on stage, he often performs with jazz musicians. Words become material for improvisation -- both sonic (onomatopoeias, theatrical intonations) and narrative -- mixing the poems and structuring them instinctively. Founded near Paris by Mad Rabbit (singer and producer) and Duck Feeling (multi-instrumentalist), the Snobs have self-produced experimental rock records since 2003 under the influence of Can's instant compositions, David Bowie and Brian Eno's synthetic textures and electric-era Miles Davis grooves. ec(H)o - system takes Massive Liquidity's creative process a step further. The Snobs recorded some riffs and beats for Dalachinsky to hear and perform some poems over them, while in Paris in September 2014. In one afternoon -- first-takes only -- he added his voice to the music ("near death in a concrete plant / language is an organism" and "the rape / particle fever") and performed a series of other poems without music that inspired new instrumental pieces to Rabbit and Feeling during the next months. Lots of overdubs helped shaping the pieces, accompanying the voice and interplaying. The result is a mix between the poet's spontaneity and The Snobs' psychedelic postproduction. From crazy onomatopoeias on "Near Death In A Concrete Plant" to the restrained elegance of "A Promise Is A Promise", Dalachinsky shows great expressiveness -- serious, ecstatic, mad -- and influences the music's ambitious developments. Choosing electronic sounds to compose -- beats programming, synthesizers sequences and chords -- The Snobs are willing to add some noisy guitar, romantic piano, free saxophone, and funky bass here and there. With three musical suites divided in eight poetic segments, ec(H)o - system is the sound of mutual listening and trust between Steve Dalachinsky and The Snobs. Cover art by poet and painter Yuko Otomo. Includes 44-page booklet containing all Dalachinsky's poems used for the record and a selection of his collages." - Bam Balam .