Anemone Tube, Jarl & Monocube – The Hunters In The Snow - A Contemplation On Pieter Bruegel‘s Series Of The Seasons

PRESS TEXT

Inspired by the Pieter Bruegel’s seasons paintings, the three industrial music projects Anemone Tube, Jarl and Monocube developed a cosmos of sound over the course of more than five years. The result “The Hunters in the Snow - A Contemplation on Pieter Bruegel’s Series of the Season” is an all-encompassing work of art from every perspective – exploring the seasons paintings through poetry, literature and sound. Originating from a visual piece of art, the musical interpretations meet every aspect of the sceneries, merging their unique approaches and individual styles into one vivid, ever-changing sonic landscape of the recurring cycle of decay and renewal. Sharply mastered by James Plotkin for eternity.

The spearhead “The Gloomy Day” seduces us to open up and give in to being carried away, a dream of a barren winter landscape that invites to calm and to rest while the sounds describe the first buds of spring penetrating the icy ground. Life returns with all its wonders. The relationship between man and nature comprises the leitmotif of the work - and is a cruel one: Albeit winter is the season where life slows down and one may enjoy ice-skating, as seen in the title picture, it is also the time where mankind struggles for survival. The need for hunting in the face of scarce resources, the killing of an animal to secure one’s own survival contrasts the peace and quiet. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth: Anemone Tube, Jarl and Monocube directly put their fingers on this ambivalence, aurally contrasting the peaceful scenery with darker tunes, rough electronic patterns that convey tension and unease. These sounds provide a space where we are confronted with the harsh side of the cold, the mere fear of dying while man has no control over the course of seasons. Again, we find rest within more quiet pieces, like “The Return of the Herd”, thus meandering between the sense of natures’ threat and its welcoming, nourishing side. Tunes of silken softness gently touch the conscious and the unconscious, like the autumn sun caressing the golden fields. And while one meditates over the essence of life, surrounded by the vast compositions that reflect the most intimate creative capacities of the three artists, it is where we connect with the core of our humanness and touch upon our own spirituality.

The CD comes in a luxurious 8-panel digifile with embossed cover on high quality natural paper, accompanied by a booklet which includes an essay on Pieter Bruegel’s landscapes by Sven Schlijper-Karssenberg & Kim Dohlich, and a poem by Jean Gebser that corroborates the conceptual framework.