A rhythmic experiment is our premiere of the day showing how central the drums can be and here definitely are. Charlie Werber gives us Krater - and the seismological effect left behind that deep circle is breathtaking at times, requiring self-sacrifice and willingness to contemplate. Enjoy the two long tracks onKrater created by Charlie Werber and Daniel O’Sullivan here on VoS!

The circle. An endless voyage. Endless in time, direction, arrival, maybe even in, well, being. But when the cycle turns into an ouroboros we all see many of these notions vanish. Endless eternity, for example, because that snake surely has a beginning - we might not know it’s end, but where it starts is crystal clear. But what if the cycle is a drum pattern, a loop. Something like Ravel’s Bolero from 1925 where the basic drum line is played throughout the whole thing. Is there an end or beginning then? Charlie Werber, who has contributed to amazing records by the Flying Luttenbachers or Lovely Little Girls would maybe deny that idea because he also says that the rhythmic pattern is a kind of cannibalistic self-destruction, it consumes itself. Nevertheless, Krater shows just that - how an elongated pattern can become self-absorbing, self-centered and self-producing. At least on “0”, the first track on his solo debut out on Saturday.

And then there is “I”, the second track of nearly the same length (more than 22 minutes each by the way); here he is joined by Daniel O’Sullivan, whom many might know as a live member of Ulver, or from his collaborations with our friends in Sunn O))) or from his own group Guapo. Daniel is a multi-instrumentalist, with the synth as his main instrument, and on this track he shows how much difference one person can make. First of all, he embellishes Charlie’s track with vocals (reminding me of a shruti box), synth passages, some bass lines, field recordings and many more details. However, one should not think that because of that Charlie’s drum line vanishes or becomes obsolete - no it’s clearly audible and much more than the backbone of the track, it’s its center, heart, lung, mind and soul which goes to show that this instrument, unfortunately overlooked as it often is, can take on the role of the lead instrument, because here it is the thing which you can hold onto, also because you already had 22 minutes of it, before this second track starts. And now think of the following - after 45 minutes of Krater you hit repeat and “O” starts again - then we are back at full-circle, right?

Charlie himself says of his debut: “This record is a nested holographic image of reciprocality: embedded in the self-eating nature of the rhythm itself, the relationship between the two complementary opposite sides—spare and ornamented—and the presence of this physical sound-object in participation with the subtle-realm fruit of which it is a seed (or the seed of which it is a fruit). Most of all, this extends to the relationship between the listener and the object of listening—the record is self-revealing, but it helps if you’re willing to at least remove your shoes and hat.”

You can pre-order the record via Charlie’s Bandcamp page (the link is above). And now, please lean back, open your mind, take a pause of 45 minutes, dive into the Krater and enjoy the work of Charlie and Daniel!