Search - Aube :: Metal De Metal

Listening to Aube is a truly surreal experience!

fun_with_knives | Pittsburgh, PA | 04/08/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was flipping through an esoteric metal/grindcore magazine, Relapse Records, when I came across this album. Being heavy into electronic music, Japan, and experimental music, the description sounded cool so I picked it up.First off, the album is on a CD, and comes in THE COOLEST case EVER MADE (EVER) made of artisticly acid-washed sheet metal. I don't really know how to accurately describe the music Aube (real name: Akifumi Nakajima) makes, except that he makes a sort of experimental/electronic ambient sound entirely with natural materials, such as water, steel, lightbulbs, brain scan sounds, stone, etc. and combines hums, buzzes, and every noise imaginable into a surreal form of experimental music. Take the experimental genius of Richard D. James of Aphex Twin, take away the turntables and synths for construction materials, and throw in the strange Japanese crazy factor, and that is the closest I can describe Aube, and it still doesn't do Nakajima justice.I'm always looking for new forms of music through experimentation, and this guy is the best/weirdest I've found so far. The title of this album (the "de" is Japanese, meaning by/with, and many other possibilities, depending on the context) translates to something like "Metal (made) by means of Metal", and this particular album is ENTIRELY made of sounds from various materials made of metal (ie: steel sheets, steel rods, etc.), and the sound is droning and very hypnotic. You could easily meditate to some of these songs, they put you in a world where the only sounds are the reverberations of metal against metal. If you like weird music, the clangs of metal made harmony, or just want to see how surreal the Japanese can be, pick up this album. Saiko da! = Its the best."