The Answer Is In The Beat

Marina Rosenfeld: P.A. / Hard Love (Room40, 2013)

August 1, 2013 at 9:56 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Experimental composer and turntablist Marina Rosenfeld designed a soundsystem/installation which repositions ambient sounds from the exhibit along with electro-acoustic elements. This album is an album-length study of this installation, featuring cello from Okkyung Lee, and most surprisingly, vocals from Warrior Queen, best known for her brilliant work with The Bug. Hearing her familiar voice in such a different context (electro-acoustic drone) is such a startling culture shock, but the results are seriously intriguing, if nothing else. The radio promo sheet likens this album to an abandoned factory in Kingston, with echoes of dancehalls of past generations resonating, but I feel like this is more bleak and futuristic than that suggests. There’s plenty of glitching and buzzing computer sounds surrounding Warrior Queen’s voice, and on a few instances, her voices gets looped and stuttered. “New York / It’s All About…” begins with a few minutes of traffic sounds, glitching and droning, before Warrior Queen’s dancehall chatter arrives, sans backing rhythm: “It’s all about Marina Rosenfeld and Warrior Queen, seen? Check it!” “Seeking Solace / Why, Why?” is a dark, cold drone with Warrior Queen pouring her soul out about neverending pain in her heart. “I Launch An Attack…” starts with swarming synths and eventually drops a spare, thumping techno beat, before Warrior Queen starts rhyming at a different tempo without the beat, and eventually the beat comes back at its original speed, while Okkyung Lee’s cello sends chills down your spine. “New York / Empire State Of…” features more NYC street ambience, a few incidental beats, and more shuddering cello. You hear some disembodied New Yorkers’ voices, but no Warrior Queen. “HARD LOVE” is the only track on the album that attemps to match Warrior Queen’s vocals with something replicating a dancehall rhythm, but there’s a conspicuous absence of bass. The song’s chorus seems to riff on Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff”, and Warrior Queen’s slick dancehall verse is cut in by glitching noises and moments of stillness. There’s a long period of beatlessness before the rhythm comes back in and the lyrics resume. “Liverpool / ‘Round Downtown By Myself / Tick Tock” features whispered dialogue, presumably from Rosenfeld herself, along with more traffic sounds and chiming electronic tones. The vocals softly imitate the ticking of a clock, and the album’s playing time runs out.