Sunday 17 November 2013

Aspa


I have just spent a pleasant while listening to the latest release by Aspa. Not (surprisingly) a solo or side project from Grunt mainman and freak animal Mikko Aspa, but a Hungarian project from Mate Karolyi-Kiss. Aspa are based in Budapest.
This album is available for download at www.aspa.bandcamp.com/album/1 and also available as a cassette, limited to 25 copies. I have the cassette. It is a beauty. Excellent cover photograph that describes the sound perfectly. Abandonment and discovery. I am linking this sound to another project I have listening to recently, the Bulgarian outfit Mother Spit. They are both working in the same areas. Anyway, Aspa provide a 4-Track cassette (would be lovely as a 10"EP), starting with "Encircled" and the sound of melting snow, the sound of snow underfoot. Certainly an amount of contact mic'ery going on. I once saw BBBlood live in Bristol create a similar sound using mic'ed up bubble wrap. There is a generated tone in there too. "Eweilicht" has a beautiful resonance. A very visual sound, a sound of attempt, a sound of old machinery waking. I have a distant memory of being told a story of a chap called Dave who lived in Texas. Dave had a beat up Chevrolet car in his front yard and there were mornings that he would just turn the ignition key and meditate on the sound of the car turning over. The machine was way past starting. I thought about this whilst listening (first time) to "Eweilicht".
Side two starts with "Raureif" (are these Hungarian titles)? Decaying static and random signal tones. Very visual. "Akovita" is a sad lament. A dirge on Harmonium with the sound of automata surrounding. Conjures up the sound of Column One.
Aspa are a great discovery and deserve to be heard, so please visit the bandcamp page and download. I think it is 2 Euro or something similarly as daft!

1 comment:

  1. Had an E Mail today from Mate of ASPA explaining a few things I missed :
    "The project name - Áspa - is an old Hungarian word for an equipment, in English it's spinner's weasel or "niddy noddy".

    About the titles:
    Zwielicht (not "Eiweilicht") = "twilight" in German.
    Raureif = "hoarfrost" in German
    Ákovita = means Aqua Vitae. A name of a traditional Hungarian spirit"

    Thank You Mate. Please take a trip to the bandcamp link and take a listen. It is an excellent release….

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