re:mote voices

Title: Kasha-Pashana
Artist: Kallabris, Tam Quam Tabula Rasa and Troum
Label: Old Europa Cafe

Kasha-Pashana is a three way split CD that is released by the Italian label Old Europa Café. It is about 68 minutes long, which gives the three artists roughly 20 minutes each, with a little leeway. Both Kallabris (who start the CD) and Troum (who end the CD) opt to fill their space with 2 tracks each, while Tam Quam Tabula Rasa who link the two provide 3 tracks, although one of those is particularly short.

The German Kallabris tends towards the eclectic, ranging from drones to abstract accordion music. The two pieces here are more in the drone territory, as perhaps might be suggested by the thematic titles of the tracks - Sleeping and Napping. Sleeping is filled with low bass, something that throbs in a solid and repetitive manner. This gradually makes allowance for higher tones, that glimmer and flash through the mix. Providing a contrast in the tone and regularity of the sleep - shiny to the bass grit. The piece expands outward, sustaining these two elements in the process over the 13-minute duration - with other little bubbles creeping in towards the end of this drone piece. Napping comes up amid level bass waves, with a deeper sound buried beneath the surface sensations. A thematic emergence from Sleeping, working in the first hints of melody, of not being as deep in slumber. Awakening pulses, bass bubbles erupting from the surface of the sound, coming with this, a man's voice talking. Giving it that typically eclectic sense that is so attractive with Kallabris's work. Becoming that degree more quirky as the piece moves a little more off kilter in tone before it fades out.


Tam Quam Tabula Rasa start their contribution with the track Sideronecia/Basanos and a clank of percussive layers, with a swirl of bass and a curious non-melody. A kind of swirl and echo, layered to curious and perhaps sinister effect. Via Trucis X is the short piece by TQTR, filled with sharp edged spirals that mix with the loop of mechanical treads. Fickle Procrustean Polymorphous is the last piece by TQTR and maintains the flow of the mood of this material. Metallic percussion strikes in a periodic manner, spaced out, with drone suggestions in the background. Impressions of a haunted factory, sounds of work going on in this distance, underscored by drifting guitar. The focus gradually shifts here to concentrate on the guitar sounds, providing slow, sludgy material.

German drone duo Troum (old German for dream) finishes Kasha-Pashana with their two tracks. The first of which is Finiens, filled with blossoming bass drones, sustained waves and the sighing of an enveloping drift. The second track, Entasis, features some source sound from Yen Pox, which suggests that it is a piece from the Mnemonic Induction collaboration CD that Troum did with Yen Pox. This piece features deeper bass, building from a rumbling start. Vibrating at the wave peaks, chugging slightly as it loops through rolling waves of striped down sound. These two pieces are stripped down drone pieces, which build up the mood interface and then maintain that established feel throughout their duration.