Con-Struct

Alexandra Grüblers work as Baal & Mortimer is strange and somnambulant, drifting between sluggish ambient pop and curious experiments filled with disconnected, pitch-shifted voices and brassy synth tones that might otherwise be shaped by neoclassical darkwave artists. After releasing her debut album on Bureau B, she contributed to the labels Con-Struct series, in which contemporary artists compose music using the vast archive of the late Conrad Schnitzler as source material. Grübler extracted notes and harmonies from Schnitzlers recordings and played around with them, finding buried ideas through extensive experimentation. The result sounds aesthetically similar to previous Baal & Mortimer releases, though Schnitzlers primitive drum machines and synth sweeps are still recognizable, and it feels a bit closer to the spirit of early industrial cassette culture. "Mohn" starts the half-hour album with groggy voices murmuring along to whipcrack snares and murky percussion, as RPG-like melodies gradually rise and provide a degree of clarity. "Blue Lotus" has another sleepwalking beat as well as a trace of funk in its half-dissolved bassline, which feels like its drifting out to sea by the songs end. "FFALL" incorporates stretched vocals that nearly resemble liturgical chants, along with layers of sorrowful violins and almost imperceptible drum vibrations. The clanging procession of "Lo" ends with a collage of intimate thoughts and vignettes, preceding the trudging drums and pitched-down monologue of "This Last Duress." "Coat" places floating synths, trickling pianos, and soothing vocals over tape-manipulated detritus. Both more personal and a bit more alien than Baal & Mortimers other recordings, Con-Struct is an uneasy exploration of hidden threads and nervous impulses. ~ Paul Simpson