1993-2003: 1st Decade in the Machines

Remixes. Most people hate them and for a good reason. Remixes have always seemed to be the dull funnel of artists that are themselves too unoriginal to create their own tracks, or who simply feel a certain gap in their creativity, needing others' material to infuse with their own style, be it as a homage or tribute, or simply as a bridgeover phase to overcome that time in your musician life where you need to focus to be creative again. When it comes to remixing, artists who go beyond the boundaries of simply music and strive to create something much more than just superficial emotion inducing music, but rather transcend these barriers and translate philosophy, spirituality, etc. into music, should be regarded as the forefront of modern cultural evolution. You see, what we want today, in a cold mechanized world, of mass information and alienation, of quick transit and further microscopic reducing of time intervals required for certain actions and doings, what we would like to see is the acquisition of a certain spirit of this time. With information travelling like a locust swarm, consuming the minds of each and every man exposed to it, where is room for a good fixation of ideas? You have your Enlightenment and industrial revolutions, each accompanied by certain morals and values, which give a period of time its color, but today? Today we have positivism, optimism, pessimism, scepticism, deconstructivism, determinism, fatalism, solipsism, shiteatism, blablablaism, etc. How do you accumulate all these ideas and create something that represents the current development and current state of mind of how young intellectuals who are not synchronized perceive reality? This is exactly what Kristoffer Rygg wants do to with Ulver, and this album is the exact representation and homage of artists who acknowledge his endeavor.

Nobody can ever understand everything in art, which is absolutely comprehendible , since art is not science and does not function by rules of logic, but by other rules (chemical reactions in our heads), which make us think we, as humans, are important or special. Let's call these emotions.

Music and art are supposed to stimulate these emotions and give us the feeling that we understand what is going on around us and try to touch us, by providing exactly the translation of feelings into their language. By capturing the tragedy of our existence, Ulver have always and will always touch us with their tunes in a very intimate way. When approaching to a remix album, which is not originally from Ulver, whom most of us trust, the result can of course be very disappointing, if you look at it stubbornly and with an aversion towards remixes in general. Most of these artists here I do not know, but I trust that simply the existence of this album in the Ulver official discography, they must approve of it as an independent piece of art, its foundation however, still being the essence of Ulver. And that is exactly what this album stands for: another expressive aid of the band.

The artists on this record make their landmark by taking Ulver songs from almost every period and album and changing the flow and structure, underlining only certain parts and focusing on certain moments of atmosphere from them. It is a risky undertaking, since you can also get complete shit out of such a formula. Fortunately, this is not the case with this remix album. So the basic idea is using Ulver's formula and translating it into electro, industrial, noise, drum and bass and even a track that vaguely resembles old-school video game music (although rather progressive and complex). The real tragic that is hidden here is embodied in tracks such as "A. Wiltzie vs. Stars of The Lid - I Love You, But I Prefer Trondheim (Parts 1-4)", which creates one of the most immortal desolate atmospheres that I've ever heard, building itself slowly and docile, while constantly shifting its appearance. Another track that is absolutely brilliant is "Martin Horntveth - Der Alte", which features a woeful and soft violin tune, accompanied by a conversation between an old man (German: der Alte) and an interviewer, who apparently visits him and asks him about his life. Non-German speakers will of course think it's some rubbish about two old men babbling meaningless topics. This song captures the tragedy of getting older and losing focus and time and withering away as an old man, for whom neither the world nor the own family have too great an interest. He talks about the futileness of his existence, about having to die, while the other comforts him with the opposite, that he is very well needed i.e. when repairing the toys of his grandchildren, after which he regains some faith in life, the old man thanks the other for his words and asks him to return when his job permits him to.

Another great aspect found on this CD is the collaboration with noise artists, such as Merzbow, one of my personal favorites. When it comes to deconstructing everything that is structure and melody, while retaining a theme, a fiber, a general idea, he s the contemporary elite. His interpretation of "Een Stemme Locker" is actually more melodic than anticipated, even surpassing Jazzkammer's absolute mayhem of a song that is sadly not recognizable, which means they did a good job. Noise is about negating everything that has to do with traditional music values and structures and opening oneself to a whole new perception of the negativity that is floating around everywhere. Interesting enough, when noise collides with Ulver, the result is absolutely new. It's neither the aggressive acute stab of Merzbow, nor the soothing melodies of Ulver. It can be described as a hybrid, a new concoction of... interesting texture. Note the complete silence on 4:21 of the final track, coming after a storm of white noise. Mezmerizing.

Give this album a chance, view it with different eyes and be open minded for other music genres. That is a chunk of advice I'd like to give you on the way if you consider picking this album up. It's a mix and jumble of genres, as before mentioned, but certainly not pointless and dull and of course, not for everybody, but for anybody willing to explore the boundaries of his known horizons. Enjoy.

(written for the Metal Observer and metal-archives.com on 16.12.2009)

Let me begin this review with one statement: I do not like this album. Most of the artists here make horrible use of Ulver tunes and totally destroy the original intent of the songs, and it strikes me as thievery in the most part, or at least coattail riding. However, not all is bad. Some provide for a really demented view of this world; others just plain have no feeling.

Tracks that I do happen to enjoy are Fennesz' Only the Poor Have Time to Travel, Neotropic's He Said She Said, Stars of the Lid'sI Love You, But I Prefer Trondheim pts 1-4, and Martin Hornventhe (sp?)'s Der Alte, along with Lyckantropen Remix. Only The Poor Have Time to Travel has bits and pieces of Perdition City in it, and feels very... well... um... distorted and removed from reality. The main "line" from the Future Sound of Music is going through this song, and I actually enjoy listening to it upon subsequent listens. Neotropic's song mixes various parts from Teaching in Silence, including Not Saved, Silence Teaches You How to Sing, and Not Saved, plus a few moments of some drumbeats. I actually think it was better than two of the songs on that album, Not Saved and Darling Didn't We Kill You?. It felt like a genuine Ulver song. Very weird and demented. The Stars of the Lid song failed as a remix, because I could not detect any Ulver bits in there, but as a song, man, this is one of the most awesome songs I've ever heard. Pure dreamy ambience. Der Alte is mostly german spoken word and the melody at the end of Speak, Dead Speaker with harmonization and a beat. Nothing special, I just like that line. Lyckantropen remix is nice, because although it's a different melody, you hear that distinctive Lyckantropen sound to it. It's got a very good melody and rhythm to it, which is nice.

The rest sucked. I hate to say it, but those were the only five songs I liked. Find some way to get those five songs, and just avoid this album. If you are new to Ulver's electronica, get Perdition City or Teaching in Silence first, or A Quick Fix of Melancholy.

If all songs had been like those five (melodic, soothing, and dark), this would've been a kickass celebration of ten years of existence.

Footnote: You can hear bits of Bergtatt in Merzbow's song. Just thought that was an interesting note, seeing as most of these songs were from Ulver's later "remix friendly" albums.

Remix albums do not appeal too me. In fact, I can say without a doubt that I do not understand remixes; especially here. "1st Decade in the Machines" is a slight detour of Ulver's musical genius. It's a collage of remixed Ulver material, without any clear red line that I see. The majority of the tracks are just weird undecipherable bits of Ulver's work, butchered beyond recognition with white noise, static, strange beats, warble effects... Sure, Ulver already utilized these elements on the "Silence Teaches You How To Sing" EP, "Silencing the Singing" EP and "Lyckantropen Themes", but on those albums they were used meaningfully so that they sounded consistent and ambient, here it sounds like cacophony. When I listened to "1st Desade...”, I did not have the feeling that I was listening to an Ulver album.

There are two tracks that I like though:
"The Third Eye Foundation: Lyckantropen Remix" has the unmistakable "lyckantropen themes" melody, with a subtle electronic beat, so it is not as horrible as the rest of album, but still... I rather listen to the original.
"Martin Horntveth: De Alte" is my favorite. Nice spoken sample in German accompanies the synth strings and electronic beat of Speak dead speaker.

The prize for the worst song goes to "Bogdan Raczynski: Bog's Basil & Curry Powder Potatos Recipe". It sounds like a soundtrack for a Super Nintendo RPG. Why would I want to listen to it twice is beyond me...

Let me finish with a word of advice. Do not buy this. Get any other Ulver release, because they are all great. I just wish that Ulver would celebrate the 10th anniversary of existence with more class (hmm...the Nattens Madrigal string version would be nice).

E).D

This Ulver "tribute" or "remix" album is quite an experience. 99% of people who buy this will only like a select few songs. None of the songs sound anything like the original songs, more like the artists take a few clips out of them or even just the melody, and add their totally own thing. However, a lot of them are still done pretty well and are very interesting to listen for the pieces of the original songs, or just the new songs as they are.

There is actually one new Ulver song done by Ulver themselves, "Crack Bug." It is pretty interesting but doesn't live up to most Ulver material. ALEXANDER RISHAUG: "A Little Wiser than the Monkey, Much Wiser than Seven Men" is very annoying and contains high-pitched screeching. INFORMATION: "Track Slow Snow" is interesting but not one of my favorites. THE THIRD EYE FOUNDATION: "Lyckantropen Remix" Is quite good and makes use of some of the very boring parts on Lyckantropen. UPLAND: "Lost in Moments Remix" is quite annoying to me, it is really a huge mess of loud and strange sounding beats, but other people could like it, and it doesn't sound anything like "Lost in Moments" whatsoever.

BOGDAN RACZYNSKI: "Bog's Basil & Curry Powder Potatoes Recipe" is probably my favorite song on the album. It contains the most interesting synth textures and tones, which make amazing layers of melodies, with intricate rhythms finding their way into the mix. The song keeps shifting and changing throughout its 5 minute duration, every second being very enjoyable, at least to me. It sounds tremendously similar to 80's and early 90's video game music, without the monotonous, 8-bit beeps, and with a lot more variety and layers.

MARTIN HORNTVETH: "Der Alte" is the violin melody from the end of "Speak Dead Speaker" off "Silencing the Singing," repeated underneath voices of old German guys talking. At some parts the rhythm picks up, and there is an extra harmonization to this already brilliant melody. This actually turned out to be one of my favorites. NEOTROPIC: "He Said, She Said" is that repeating bell melody from "Not Saved," with a lot of extra sounds and melodies, and then turning into something totally unique but still very good. It's another one of the best tracks, if you ask me.

A. WILTZIE vs. STARS OF THE LID: "I Love you, but I Prefer Trondheim" is probably my second favorite track. It starts off with a brilliant, orchestrated violin melody that sounds like music at emotional climax of a great movie, and transforms into a soft, eerie melody with a soft pulsing beat. The violins reappear to enhance the aurally pleasing waves of sound entering your ear lobe. This melody fades out into a delicate, relaxing keyboard section that is not in a hurry to go anywhere, which then slowly fades out.

FENNESZ: "Only the Poor Have to Travel" is just a big incoherent mess of sections from different songs of Perdition City, mangled around and sloppily pasted together. PITA: "Ulvrmxsw5" is a bunch of random screeching noises, JAZZKAMMER: "Wolf Rotorvator" I find extremely annoying, V/VM: "The Descent of Men" is more random annoying junk, and then finally, MERZBOW: "Vow Me Ibrzu" is a little interesting, but sounds a lot like the two songs before it.

All in all... A lot of songs on this CD need a true second chance; most will simply not pull your attention right away. This CD is mostly for hardcore Ulver fans that are just looking for something extra in their collection, or just need to get it to complete their collection. I really wouldn't recommend it to anyone else, especially if you are new to Ulver. This CD would leave a horrible impression of the band, especially since it's all other artists.