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IN ONE WEEK AND NEW TOYS TO PLAY by; Kodi & Pausa

REVIEWS

The idea behind the Brombron series may be well-known to you: “In the year 2000 Frans de Waard and Extrapool started the Brombron project. Two or more musicians become artists in residence in Extrapool, an arts initiative in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, with a fully equipped sound recording studio. These artists can work in a certain amount of time on a collaborative project; a project they always wished to do, but didn’t have the time or the equipment to realize” (promo-info).
For the seventh edition Natalie Bruys (Kodi) and Lukas Simonis (Pausa) occupied the Extrapool territories. Natalie Bruys started as a visual artist but nowadays she is more and more involved in the world of sound and techno. Lukas Simonis wrote history with bands like Dull Schicksal, Morzelpronk, a.o. ApricotMyLady (with the Bohman Brothers and Ann Laberge), The Static Tics (with Henk Bakker) and Vril (with Chris Cutler and Bob Drake) are some of his more recent collaborations.
Did Kodi and Pausa they feel at home in the Extrapool-studio? Yes, I think so because they left 10 tracks behind that found there way to this cd. The title of this cd suggests that both didn,t work from an underlying concept. It simply describes the context: being one week in a studio working with the available possibilities and instruments. And this it. It is difficult to trace what toys they played with. If I,m not mistaken I hear good old synthesizer sounds. But also guitar, banjo (!), and several sounds and voices they took from the environment. In most pieces the result is more close to soundscape and collage then to music. The first track shows maybe most clearly the techno background of Kodi and the guitar-improv style of Pausa. Track 5 is a demented Residents-like tune. Track 7 combines all these aspects of Kodi and Pausa and is the most successfull track in my opinion: a childlike tune, beats and environmental sounds are united here.
Although not all pieces impressed me, the atmosphere throughout the cd is a pleasant one. Both musicians have a fresh non-academic approach. Both feel no need to complicate and analyse things endlessly. Spontaneous music, that’s what it is

Vital Weekly (DM)

On “In One Week and New Toys to Play”, Kodi and Pausa layer quasi-rhythmic elements on bits of vocals, jittery bleeps and synth-like sounds, short bursts of noise, and miscellaneous jabber. In general, the compositions have a very loose structure and tend to jump back and forth, giving the recordings somewhat of a neurotic feel. Some tracks stand out due to their song-like structure. The way this wide variety of sounds is given cohesion is remarkable, and very well done. A fine recording for its ability to intertwine so many different types of sound.
(Phospor Magazine)

KODI & PAUSA
‘In one week & new toys to play”
Collaboration entre Natalie Bruys (Kodi) et Lukas Simonis (Pausa). Une étrange rencontre d’origines rock et techno mélangées à des improvisations en studio, d’instruments acoustiques (guitare, banjo) avec des synthétiseurs analogiques. Un univers très personnel non dénué d’humour – évoquant parfois celui des Residents (d’une époque) – avec des sonorités et rythmiques très mécaniques, voir industrielles à certains moments.

Kodi & Pausa – In One Week And New Toys To Play (CD Brombron)
Kodi è Natalie Bruys (formazione da artista visiva, poi esperimenti con suoni di matrice plunder e techno), Pausa è Lukas Simonis (musicista con background industrial e successivamente influenzato dall’improvvisazione jazz). In questo nuovo lavoro della serie Brombron i due s’incontrano con tutto il loro repertorio di suoni svagati, improntati a un forte gusto per il collage. Ecco dunque synth, chitarra, banjo e samples mischiarsi a rtimi techno sfrenati.
Nonostante le giocose melodie-mostriciattolo e lo spiccato gusto per lo humour dei due (la voce indolente di Chicks On Trees, il pop scanzonato di Flashy Toilet), l’album risente di troppi momenti senza bussola e di eccessive prolissità, a diluire un’idea di partenza che avrebbe potuto avere esiti migliori (6/7 – Blow Up 81)

KODI & PAUSA – In One Week And New Toys To Play
Brombron/Korm Plastics ~ Brombron 07/KP3018

The seventh release in the Brombron series, where artists are encouraged to work in unison using a sound recording studio in The Netherlands as part of an arts initiative. The two collaborators on display are visual artist and musician Natalie Bruys (Kodi) and instrumentalist and musical ‘activist’ Lukas Simonis (aka Pausa).

The result is In One Week And New Toys To Play, a self-explanatory title considering the circumstances. The album itself is very abstract, but consistently so, compromising of minimalist techno pulses, distant vocals and field recordings – it has a heavily environmental quality, and is not very musical at all.

Many of the tracks sound like a dictophone recording of a student bar, with squiggly techno beeps and frazzled samples interjecting. It would be easy to withdraw from criticism simply because reviewers are often afraid to be overly judgmental about improvisional albums such as this for fear of being labelled as superficially minded – but I’d rather tell it how it is. From my perspective there is nothing of interest here. The compositions do not build much of an ambience – or at least not an interesting ambience, and the works lack emotion, melody, rhythm, or any sort of cohesive dynamics or generic progression.

It sounds like what it is, two artists experimenting with sound samples and recordings – with little connection to eachother and only a limited amount of time to make anything of tangible value. A recipe for disaster you might think? And you wouldn’t be far wrong. 1.9/10

Kodi & Pausa
In One Week And New Toys To Play
[Brombron/Korm Plastics/Metamkine::2005]

Brombron est une série de disques-concepts comme peut l’être celle dénommée Mort Aux Vaches chez Staalplaat. Et ça tombe bien puisque, les Brombron, c’est Frans de Waard qui a initié cette série il y a quelques années avec le concours d’Extrapool. Comme à son habitude de Waard recrute pour ce projet tout ce qu’il y a de plus atypique, des bricolos du son et expérimentateurs de tous poils. Le but ici étant de faire aboutir un projet entre deux personnes qui n’aurait jamais pu se réaliser si ce n’est dans le cadre de Brombron. on leur met à disposition un lieu (Extrapool, en l’occurence, qui se situe à Nijmegen en Hollande) ainsi que tout le matériel pour qu’ils puissent mener à bien tout ce qui peut leur passer par la tête. Pour ce septième volume ce sont Natalie Bruys aka Kodi et Lukas Simonis aka Pausa qui s’y collent. Résidente de Berlin, la Hollandaise Kodi est avant tout une artiste qui s’est distinguée dans les arts visuels tout en développant ses propres créations de musique électronique. Lukas Simonis a un parcours plus sinueux. Issu du Jazzbunker de Rotterdam, Simonis s’est longtemps épanoui dans l’improvisation. Musicien dans de multiples groupes il fut aussi journaliste pour plusieurs magazines underground sans compter ses talents d’organisateur d’évènements culturels.

Si on retrace ici le chemin parcouru par nos deux protagonistes ce n’est pas hasardeux. In One Week… est un condensé de ce qui a pu faire leur quotidien par le passé. Entre la musique électronique de Kodi qui fait largement penser à la bande-son pour une installation vidéo et les improvisations et les influences post-industrielles de Pausa on arrive à un album qui apparaît comme un laboratoire sonore. Le duo parvient, sans rien inventer, à générer une musique qui se voudrait comme le reflet des grandes cités urbaines. L’usage du sample et des collages sonores y sont sans doute pour beaucoup. Si les compositions de Kodi & Pausa sont souvent d’un modernisme grisonnant il arrive qu’un fond d’humanité chaleureuse resurgisse de temps à autre. On ne reste pas figé dans des figures musicales trop scolaires. Avec un non rythme assumé les deux comparses se renouvellent à chaque morceau et offrent de multiples pistes. Et heureusement d’ailleurs sinon on serait vite tombé dans la monotonie. Kodi & Pausa évite ce piège sans trop de problêmes, signant un disque d’un digne intérêt.
Artist: KODI & PAUSA
Man, talking about freakiness, extravaganza or “music out of ordinary” the Kodi and Pausa project is a good example, nothing more and nothing less. I think the fact this cd can be good or bad is a detail, but I dare the average critic to label this cd as “the same ol’ shit”. Probably what I’m going to say has to do with the fact I’ve listened to Boredom’s “Pop tatari” a couple of days ago, but I guess if ever pop music would have followed the path of these japanese kamikaze, this could have been the euro-pop answer to the demented genius of Yamatsuka Eye and friends. An improvisational cut and lot’s of instruments to play may imply influences and ideas can move in this or in that direction, but it can also bring to a delirium where everything flows randomly leaving reminiscences of what lied buried in the subconscious coming out in the open with the consequent result you’ll see fragments of subconscious scattered all over the place. Is Kodi and Pausa pure essence of chaos? Absolutely not, but here you’ve electronic music, free jazzy guitar incursions, shapeless cut ups/pastiches (Boswachter) as well as old electronic mixed with modern hi-frequencies computer sounds, this recording features also minimal keyboard experiments (that reminded me of the early and greatest Pram). What should I say about a defiant cartoon tune like “Flashy toilet”!?…this couple of musician probably has had problems during their childhood. Sometimes it’s hard to judge the quality of a cd and when it’s “In one week and new toys to play”, the idea is that the “subject” is really beyond the boundaries of musical judgment…life is a nonsense.
Review by: Andrea Ferraris

Auch In One Week And New Toys To Play (Brombron 07 / kp 3018) ist eine Kollaboration. Im Rahmen der von Frans de Waard weiter betreuten Brombron-Reihe im Nijmegischen Extrapool trafen KODI & PAUSA aufeinander. Sie, Kodi, eigentlich Natalie Bruys, ist eine Newcomerin mit einem Kunststudium an der Amsterdamer De Rietvield-Akademie als Starthilfe und einem Berlinaufenthalt, bei dem sie ihre eigene Version von Plunderphonie und Soundscaping weiterentwickelte. Er, Pausa, eigentlich Lukas Simonis, ist ein alter Hase, seit den 80ern aktiv in der Rotterdamer Jazzbunkerszene, als Gitarrist von Trespassers W & Dull Schicksal, und als Festivalveranstalter (Dissonanten, Dissidenten, Dodorama, WORM). Gegenwärtig spielt er gleichzeitig in Coolhaven, Liana Flu Winks, ApricotMyLady, The Static Tics und Vril. Und fand dazwischen die Zeit für einen Spaß wie diesen. Zehn verzwirbelte Undefinierbarkeiten im bodenlosen Spalt zwischen Noch-nicht-Pop und Nicht-mehr-Pop und nicht umsonst mit seltsamen Etiketten versehen wie ,laatbloeier’, ,boswachter’, ,knutselvriend’ oder ,krekelvent’. Wobei ich mir sicher bin, dass das auch für Holländer komisch klingt. Und auch wenn die Joyce, der ganz speziell gedankt wird, nicht der Joyce ist, so springen Kodi & Pause mit Klängen doch ähnlich um, wie der große Ire mit der Sprache. Bizarr, grotesk, jedenfalls immer irritierend, verheddern sich ominöse Samples ineinander, Alltagsgeräusche, Schnippsel von Sprachlernplatten. Manchem wird mit Elektrogezwitscher, Bleeps und Glitches auf die Sprünge geholfen, manchem mit Banjogeschrammel. Manchmal fühlt man sich auf Japanisch nach dem Weg zum nächsten Pissoir gefragt. Anderes klingt wie Modern Art von Jost Swarte. Hier übt David Moss an der Finnegan’s Wake-Partitur, da klopft eine billige Drum-machine, es blubbert, knackst und ein Fisch auf dem Fahrrad fährt durch die schmale Gasse zwischen Nähmachine und Regenschirm. Nächste Verwandte – Secret Mommy? Tapebeatles? Nur weniger hysterisch, verhuschter und mit versteckterem Witz. Ist die Welt so? – Immer öfter.
(Bad Alchemy 46)

Kodi & Pausa – In One Week And New Toys To Play (Brombon)
Die heitere Seite der Kormplastics Welt präsentiert sich aus diesem Gemisch aus klingelnden Sounds, skurrilen Jazzfunkfragmenten, Field Recordings und verknautschter Spielhölle für alle die in jedem Licht einen Pixel sehen und dabei vor allem an eins denken, den Highscore der es einem endlich ermöglicht der Star der digitalen Operette zu werden. Wild und dennoch irgendwie Kunst. So mag ich das.
(debug)

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