Bulbul

First of all, really? Is it really 6 years ago that Austrian stalwarts of weirdness and this nucleus of avantgarde hedonism have blessed the planet with their latest full-length album? It is indeed. Yet unbelievable considering how “bulbul 6″ has accompanied us over these years. Well, it must be admitted that there was an undisputed yearning for new stuff arising with every spin and when the Vienna based three-piece announced works on a new album in mid 2013 the joy was unbearable.

And here we are: entering a universe consisting of antagonisms such as accessibility and denial, degeneration and full bloom, similarity and dichotomy. And vegetables. A lot of bands and music are described to be eclectic these days but truth be told, Bulbul again come across like a band for whom this term must have been invented. But while the Austrians do not shop pop history they chase through it, sometimes gently ripping parts out and incorporating in their own sound, sometimes they pillage through the leftovers of inspiration that might have driven pop music in years past and don’t even wait for until they are back at the parking lot. They smash it right there, in the museum and create something new, unbelievably vital, haunting and unbearable. Bulbul are taking contemporary music to a meta level by not only turning the upside down, they change perspective from every angle, the unimportant becomes important, the blurry focussed, straight ends up curvy and squared becomes round – quoting the concept of Auto Destructive Art by Gustav Metzger.

This all sounds academic to you? Well, in that case, screw the writer of these lines and put the record on! Become sucked into the maelstrom-like groove, jump on the sled and ride down this slope of quotation and hunt down the references ranging from Kinks through Cpt. Beefheart, Rhys Chatham, Django Reinhart, Abner Jay, Fats Domino, Bob Dylan into the glorious climax of Bulbul themselves who fear not even a rape chase of their own copyrights. Get your brain chopped into pieces (that’s what the German title of the record means).

The album was recorded in an old farmhouse in the Austrian wilderness breathing in the specific sonority of its hayloft. Responsible for tracking was the longtime acolyte of the band, Oliver “Ollmann” Brunbauer. Aside from the usual guitars, drums and bass an armada of hand-crafted instruments such as umbrellas, tennis rackets, bicycle wheels, cooking lids and mattocks were used. The tracks then have been digitally revised and bludgeoned.