Published by Alessandro Violante on December 7, 2016
“Deforming in an original way the vibration of the metal itself […] (sounds that) with their abstract simplicity of anonymous gears give the geometric and mechanic splendor”. These sentences, published by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti on the 18th of march 1914, and later on considered an influence for Esplendor Geométrico music, can describe Yura Yura‘s rhythmic noise formula as well. In particular, they describe Rumu Namba, his third album (if we count his self-released first album), following Be Sexual, released approximately two years ago, that had a quite different mood. His new album was premiered on 14 october, during Maschinenfest 2k16.
Yura Yura is the creature of French composer Grégory Mousselle, a project with a typical old school Hands Productions sound, strongly influenced by the pioneers of the genre and presenting fifteen songs ranging from syncopated hard rhythms to rough dark ambient, with a powerful production. This is possible thanks to Eric Van Wonterghem‘s Prodam mastering; the first difference with Be Sexual is a clearer and stronger sound easily perceived, but what distinguishes his last album from the previous one is the structure of its songs. While a good amount of the songs on Be Sexual explored different rhythms and patterns, every song here focuses on few elements and rhythms with their small variations, contributing in never boring the listener.
Another important difference is in the mood of the album: watching Be Sexual’s cover artwork and listening to it, the listener could feel a certain sense of abstraction from reality, as if its sound were pretty artificial. This is also because in most of the songs there was a gloomy and abstract atmosphere, while Rumu Namba is extremely physical, and that’s why Esplendor Geométrico’s music recalling “African tribal rhythms”, words they used to describe their music in an interview we made with them some months ago and available here, is stronger. It’s not by chance that Rumu is the language spoken by Papua Nuova Guinea inhabitants.
Rumu Namba goes straight to the point with its opener, the solid and noisy wall of sound of Helm, while Cavale is a syncopated and distorted frenzy ballet, a perfect example of what was said above. There’s a simple rhythm iterated and varied, always following the same direction, and so is Shamdead, a distorted techno episode, his rough interpretation of techno industrial, while Following is more linked to Be Sexual’s sound. Arturo Lanz and Saverio Evangelista are evoked in Jaeger, mixing an old school industrial beat with more distorted and techno-derived sounds. Vlad takes a break with a tempo and a sound recalling that of the heartbeat of a vampire, a typical rough dark ambient episode, while Vesperal tries new solutions deconstructing a guitar riff, looping it and transforming it into a strongly distorted rhythmic industrial episode. If Morder sounds particularly old school with its oppressive and industrial atmosphere, Antimon closes the album with a long atmospheric and rough ballet in the background.
Yura Yura’s Rumu Namba both demonstrates that rhythm is a constant in Grégory Yura’s work and that he’s good at evoking rough and dark atmospheres. A very solid album.
Label: Hands Productions
Score: 8