Dadanaut – Phantasmagorien
Dadanaut – Phantasmagorien – EP Review
Now this here…I really like.
Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves though. In this instance, I’m specifically talking about the gateway into Dadanaut’s Phantasmagorien EP, called “Eisenkernspule.” You see folks…I’m a twenty-four hours a day kinda guy – I’m sure many of you have picked up on that by now given that I could lay down a post at any time of day, and have throughout the years – what else can I say…sleep is the enemy. Having said that though, the art of listening to music can genuinely be affected by WHEN you discover something…whether that’s the time of day, or the time in your life, that truly does matter and can make a significant difference. I’m sure some of you know that already and have experienced it in a variety of ways. Ever heard a song that’s made you turn on every light in your house because it has scared you shitless? I have! That’s merely one example, and there are thousands I’m sure we could discuss. In the case of my listening to the Phantasmagorien EP, I’ll highlight another for you. Imagine listening to “Eisenkernspule” in the middle of a bright sunny day with all its creepy metallic sounds and eerie way of moving through its length…it’s almost still in a structural way, but it’s also moving at quite a rapid pace that keeps you paying attention, because its endless pulsing feels like it’s warning you of some kind of potential danger in your immanent future ahead. In the daylight, you really might not feel the full brunt of how a track like “Eisenkernspule” explores the limitless depths of sensory sound – but in MY experience, finding this song for the first time while still rubbing the sleep outta my eyes at like, three o’clock in the morning? C’mon y’all…hearing a moment like this makes you literally feel like you’re still dreaming, or potentially even locked into a nightmare of some kind. And ain’t that FANTASTIC? Look…I know that’s not gonna be a feeling that everyone can relate to, or would be something that you’d search out like I DO in my life, but to me, it’s moments exactly like “Eisenkernspule” that make me wanna get out of bed every day! This is the kind of uniqueness and creativity that I always hope to find, and while it’s rare…it does happen. The fact that the sun hadn’t even come up yet, and that through my window in front of me I could see the fog & mist gathering around the still-lit streetlamps…I mean…it was like the perfect storm, as they say. The sounds of “Eisenkernspule” audibly seemed like they were describing the atmosphere around me in the middle of the night, and I became every bit as excited as I was fascinated by what Dadanaut had chosen to start this EP with. Sure, it’s fair to say that this opening track doesn’t really appear to do a whole lot in some ways…the kids these days would call “Eisenkernspule” a ‘drone’ track, and they’d be right about that – but if you’re listening intently to the staggering amount of detail found in the layers of Dadanaut’s production, you can’t help but LOVE this.
Honestly, I got so mesmerized by the first song on this record that I really had a hard time switching onto the next. Not because I didn’t enjoy what I found on “Parasomnie,” but because I felt like I was never going to ever want to stop listening to “Eisenkernspule.” Like, ever. Alas, all good things must come to their eventual end, as we know. I do like the natural digital progression that Dadanaut reveals as we move from track one to track two, but I’ll admit that it wasn’t until that first major switch in the sound came in around the two-minute mark that “Parasomnie” finally got my utmost attention. Up until that point, I wasn’t quite sure this second track would have enough for me, but from the two-minute mark on-forward, I felt like Dadanaut found the essence of this idea and really dove right into it. In fact, with the combination of piano melody & such towards the end, it began to feel like Dadanaut was closing in on the vibe I get from one of my favorite Mogwai albums, called Mr. Beast. Not in the way that it starts, but certainly by the time it reached its finale, it felt like “Parasomnie” might have ended up in a similar space as a track like “Auto Rock” from that Mogwai album, and lemme tell ya folks, anything I’m ever going to listen to that might even remotely remind me of that is going to be all aces with me. So while there’s kind of a part I & a part II effect in this second track on Phantasmagorien, “Parasomnie” definitely ends on its strongest moments and instantly leaves you with the desire to experience it again. I don’t know that I’d go so far as to say I ever warmed up much to its first two minutes, but it never put me off either – I think all I’m saying is that the main meat & potatoes of this track are in its second half.
There is a lot about this record that feels like Dadanaut had a real refreshed perspective in how he chose to approach the set-list of five songs on Phantasmagorien, and it feels like you can hear the inspiration flowing in the majority of this EP. “Leichtigkeitsmomente” is a stellar example of the way that Dadanaut uses his time wisely and is able to shift his sound so effectively from one side to the other in terms of finding a balance between the dark and the light. In many ways, it felt like “Leichtigkeitsmomente” was closer to the actual ideas he was aiming for on the previous cut “Parasomnie,” and so rather than end up with something that feels like a part I & part II scenario, everything about “Leichtigkeitsmomente” feels like it was a wonderfully organic progression from where it was right beforehand. There are parts of the mix that I don’t particularly love…I think once you get to around the four-minute mark, you start to feel the clashing textures between the cleanest sounds of Dadanaut and the dirtier ones, which does kind of threaten the beauty of “Leichtigkeitsmomente” with a bit of a sonic imbalance. My gut tells me that it’s not so much a mistake in the production, and not something that Dadanaut has overlooked either – I think it’s one of the sounds he’s chosen along the way that comes along with a bit too much edge, which gives some of this track an aural texture of being pushed over the red line on the studio boards. So…I mean…it’s one of those things – I might be right, I might be wrong – and to be truthful with ya, it really doesn’t matter either way…the masses themselves aren’t going to know what was or wasn’t purposeful or not, they’re not going to know certain preset sounds come intentionally with a bit too much gain or whatever, they’re just gonna hear the difference between moments of sparkling clarity, like you’ll hear around the 1:45 mark on “Leichtigkeitsmomente,” versus where things start to sound like a distorted element to them, around the 3:30 mark. Of course, if Dadanaut is cool with all of that, there’s no need to change anything at all – but if that’s not what was intended, there’s still work to be done. Essentially, I think the ideas on “Leichtigkeitsmomente” are fantastic all the way through, but I do feel like the presentation of its sound could be mistaken for something else in the ears of the masses.
So yeah…I mean, don’t get me wrong, technical details are a fairly easy fix when it comes right down to it, and always worth pursuing when the quality of the ideas is clearly there. Where I felt like the most tossed up I got about the strength within the ideas themselves was on the next track, “Sternenfinder.” Again, not a bad tune by any stretch of the definition, and it still possesses the Dadanaut approach to basically hiding all kinds of Easter eggs within the layers of its production & sound selection. That being said, it moves in a fairly similar way as how the EP began, which is to say, it really doesn’t move much at all. The main differences, in my personal opinion, between tracks like “Eisenkernspule” and “Sternenfinder” are found within the central idea and theme of each song’s overall sound. To me, I think a cut like “Eisenkernspule” sounds incredibly interesting from start to finish, and it always seemed like I was hearing something revitalized, fresh, and new from Dadanaut in that first impression of Phantasmagorien, whereas “Sternenfinder” feels a lot closer to something else we’ve all probably heard before somewhere along the way. And I’m choosing to not be specific in saying ‘something else’ because I feel like that’s the main issue here…whatever that ‘something else’ would have been, it would have been forgettable. So while yes, the technical aspects of “Sternenfinder” are back on track, and I do think its more peaceful demeanor will still land fairly favorably with the people out there listening, I do still feel like “Sternenfinder” is facing an uphill battle to be remembered…it’s just missing that element or moment that makes a song memorable, which is precisely what “Eisenkernspule” was built of, entirely. Peaceful serenity in music is always going to have a place on playlists out there, and I have no doubt some folks will find “Sternenfinder” to have its own set of healing properties and all that good stuff, but the point remains the same…it’s gonna be tough for this track to not be relegated to the background of whatever someone’s doing, whereas a song like “Eisenkernspule” commands your full attention. Both good tunes in their own way, but only one of them will likely be memorable in the end.
“Krampus?” Like…the video game? How is this representing “Krampus,” Dadanaut? Look…you can never full judge a track by its title…at least not every time. For some folks, especially in the instrumental realm, a title can often be symbolic for what a song is about – but for just as many, it’s merely a label so they don’t confuse it with something else they’ve written and it means nothing at all…and there’s really no way to distinguish that from the listening side of things. I mean, I feel like you can based on whether or not a title would line up with the sounds you hear, but what I’m saying is that we never really know the intentions of what it serves for the person or people that create a song. To me, I’m not hearing the malevolent force of a son of the underworld that likes to put the bad kids in sacks and haul them away – but maybe that’s just me. Maybe you’ll listen to Krampus and feel like this is exactly what it sounds like when you kidnap a bunch of kids in burlap sacks! Usually I’d say right on…but in the event that you feel like this is EXACTLY what that would sound like, perhaps we should have the authorities look in on you as a precaution. But yeah…I don’t really know what to make of “Krampus” here…it seems a lot more avant garde and experimental overall, somewhat in search of a central idea to tie it all together. Even if you want to claim that this song would more closely represent the happier side of “Krampus” where he leaves gifts for all the good children instead of bagging them & dragging them away…I dunno…I’d still feel like there’s not enough of that in here either to be an accurate title. So then you say, well, that’s because “Krampus” is neither inherently good or bad, he’s objectively fair…if you’re good, you get a gift – if you’re bad, get in the bag…simple as that, and so the song itself meets these situations by occupying the middle ground. I don’t feel like that’s the case either, but again, maybe that’s just me. I like the stranger noises you hear within “Krampus” that could be interpreted as “Krampus” himself…I’m cool with those, and I do enjoy what I’d say is at least half of this tune without question. I guess I’m just calling this one like I hear it, not so much by what it’s titled, and “Krampus” feels a little bit disorganized by comparison to the rest of what you’ll hear on the Phantasmagorien EP. The strengths of this record lean heavily towards its first half, but Dadanaut has always got something interesting to pique your curiosity and interest threaded into every song at some point – it’s never a matter of ‘if’ – it’s ‘when.’
Find out more about Dadanaut here at sleepingbagstudios as we review a whole batch of records over the course of this week, and find out even more by visiting the official website at: https://dadanaut.de
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