seven

dead hollywood stars is the project that once again (as it usually is with metarc-related material) has pulled together such names as john sellekaers, c-drik (ammo, ambre, moonsanto, axiome), herve tomas of urawa and hint's fame, ultraphonist and silk saw's members marc medea and rob(u)rang. once again they never cease to amaze me with their creativity and multitude of directions their music takes.

the whole album deals with the themes of country and western music transformed and looked at from a completely new perspective. the old artifacts of overused country samples and clichés are not merely sampled and taken apart - they are revived and work their way into the music. I am still not sure whether it was an honest attempt of reviving western music or more of a playful twist of american values, both trends seem to manifest themselves on this release.

somewhere in the middle of the cd it occurred to me that this could be a perfect soundtrack for strangely poetic "america" by jean baudrillard. he coldly dissected, twisted and transformed with alien detachment the very roots of western landscapes and characters, at the same time he was fascinated by the seemingly aimless desire and power of the prairies and deserts. the same feeling of universal desire for discovering the unknown and fascination with the movement by itself appears to be the underlining motif of this release.

maybe the fact that I am not an american allows me to easily detach myself from the media presentation of westerns and accept the country elements in the music of dead hollywood stars. and indeed they are all over the place, blending with trademark intricate xingu hill percussion, dark atmospheric passages and deep textures filled with fading random and mysterious noises. this mix is incredibly rich; it combines multitude of genres, epochs and cultures in a unique atmosphere that, channeled through artists' creative vision, maintains strong sense of direction and even certain conceptualism.

high-tech edgy percussion blends with acoustic guitar touches; distant noises of a prairie ghost town are joined by technoid sounds and smooth dark ambient textures. the balance is perfect - the music is never becoming too scolding and never is too experimental; as with other material bearing sellekaers touch, the spirit and masterful interpretation of huge number of music genres is what makes this album a timeless experience.

my favorite pieces on this album include layered ambient textures of "jigsaw motel" and "the way of the fugu." at the same time percussion-based intricate and spacey tracks like "all-star western," "dreamland's burning," "amongst the stars" bring back moody and subtle charm of xingu hill together with bizarre touch of moonsanto and silk saw.

being tired of pretentious and shallow self-feeding circle of casual "industrial" music, I find this cd very refreshing and strangely universal. in this sense it is similar to latest beefcake, incorporating so many genres at the same time keeping a sense of direction and focus.