The Hafler Trio

Gavel down. Levity up.

The Hafler Trio is more of an 'enigma' than a 'band' or even a 'manifesto'. All the cliches are out there and The Hafler Trio managed to play a little trick suggesting 'music' is either dead or we are dead of silence... or at least impatient without the slightest trace of melody structure or rhythm. Through variety of documented sound, the 'trio's' principal, A. McKenzie, managed to put quite an impressive scrapbook of 'music' - one that we're usually witnessing in shopping malls, crowded streets, airports, supermarkets or on a deserted island...

It might be funny that all this passes unnoticed within ourselves - we are experiencing everyday rush of the busy life. Overscheduled, we're not thinking of it for one second to be 'music'. It's not necessarily relaxing of comforting - not to mention it is far from 'entertaining'. But in a sense, it is weirdly funny - and it can be listened to. A suggested, aestheticised sound routine. According to this very philosophy, we are all pretty much sound recordists, except maybe lacking proper equipment in the proper moment to record. The Hafler Trio were not the first to realise how to put such things into listener's perspective - however, they were brave enough to bring the outside world's soundtrack to the agenda.

The only "thin line" here is between sanity and insanity - where is the limit?

'Wash your brains, think again, double-check.'

Anything about the history of the band sounds odd (just like the band itself). First of all - its not a trio, its basically Andrew McKenzie himself, although in the beginning it was a duo of him and Chris Watson who later turned to a solo career. Yet another character in the group is Dr. Edward Moolenbeck, sound researcher who, apparently, turned out to be a mythical person.
Second thing is, of course, the music itself. It employs a variety of techniques - loops, computer effects, feedback, nearly anything to disorient the listener. H30 main achievement is that they were able to create many ambiences and oddities without the use of modern equipment, while they started back in the early 80s. Same can be said about UK own Zoviet France, who, however, sound little like H30 although their music can be equally disorienting and confusing.
Third part is that after a period of silence, number of new releases from the band crossed all possible barriers to the point where new record was released almost every day. Unfortunate side effect of this is that quality very often tends to be lost in the shuffle. One of the most cited reasons for this amount of new releases is Andrew struggle with a certain disease and his inability to pay medical bills in full.
Yet another important point is writings by Andrew McKenzie himself - some of them may sound like a technological nonsense and gibberish, but his analysis of sound and its effects on people in "Tape Delay" book is simply amazing.
So there you have it - H30 is one of the most unique acts to come out of Iceland and unlike many industrial/ambient/experimental/noise makers out there, it makes you think.

"a source of stimulation to action - in direct opposition to the lethargic obsession with escapism"

Absolutely, a sound artist who perhaps single-handedly changed the way I listen to my surrounding environment, made me listen to it, and made me get up off my ass and back to making great sound art with my cheap, but not limited, equipment. Inspiring in a magickal, consciousness-altering sense, without dulling the senses, always awakening new areas of the "three essentials" of the Hafler Trio.