Fluten, Kreiseltanz, Fluggeschwader and Unter Druck were recorded live at Kastanieallee 77 in Berlin, 5.12.19
Wogen was recorded live at Hall of Fame in Dresden, 6.12.19
Die Omnipotentez eines Hundewelpens was recorded live at Bretterbude in Freiburg, 22.10.19
All Grodock-Sounds, Arrangements and Frontcoveratwork by David Leutkart
grubenwehrfreiburg.bandcamp.com
released February 4, 2020
Industrial music often has a bit of an obsession with mining, as this is one of the contexts – like the factory and the building site – where heavy metal machinery noisily wrestles with unwielding chunks of raw material. In this tradition, Grodock aka David Leutkart from Freiburg in the South-West of Germany uses concrete, stone, and metal from the construction industry to create source sounds for his electronic treatments. Therefore, the name of his label – on which this tape is co-released – is aptly named Grubenwehr Freiburg, which translates as “mine rescue brigade Freiburg”.
Side A of the tape collects solo works by Grodock, the titles of which show that he is inclined towards a rather surrealist understanding of (post-) industrial aesthetics, with traces of the absurdist humour of fellow Germans Feine Trinker bei Pinkels Daheim. One would be correct in connecting his creations to the field of dark ambient, although here the emotional darkness is created not, as is so often the case in the genre, through low-end bass frequencies and the reverb of vast, hollow spaces. On the contrary, it is a certain claustrophic “flatness” or “closeness” of the mournful, melancholic drone sounds that creates an atmosphere of loneliness and desolation. Side B of the tape collects collaborations of Grodock with various other artists from Germany and the UK, namely Dieter Müh, Flutwacht, Oba Boba, and Felix Mayer.
File under: Industrial, dark ambient, drone, noise
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VITAL WEEKLY
The only previous time the name Grodock appeared in Vital Weekly was in a concert announcement, but a very long time ago (Vital Weekly 865). I am not sure what it means; either Grodock isn't very active in releasing music, or working with people who don't do much promotion. Or perhaps he has been quiet for a good number of years. He has his label, Grubenwehr Freiburg, which means something as 'mine rescue brigade Freiburg'. This new release has one side of solo pieces and one side of collaborative pieces. Grodock plays noise music; or rather, industrial music, perhaps as it was not intended back then. This is not the sound of the postindustrial society, but rather the sound of the industry itself. It's bleak and empty music. In 'Fluten' we hear the machines from outside, next to a river, but in 'Fluggeschwader über dem Lago Maggiore' and 'Schlag ins Gesicht' we are slap, bang in the middle of the factory mayhem. Use hearing protection. Yet Grodock isn't all about noise; there is more happening and that is the great thing about it. There are also moments of relative quietness; strange intersections of near silence. The collaborations are with Dieter Müh, Felix Mayer, Flutwacht and Oba Boba. Maybe it is the nature of the collaboration but it seems things are a bit quieter around here, more worked out and more eye for detail in the composition. The music here tends towards the noisy end of ambient music and that happens in various degrees of intensity. I quite enjoyed these four collaborative pieces as they bring out a human side to the work of Grodock which I found more appealing than a pain level of bringing crushed by the wheels of industry.
www.vitalweekly.net/1225.html
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BAD ALCHEMY
David Leukert arbeitet in Freiburg seit gut 10 Jahren als GRODOCK auf den Hoch- & Tief¬baustellen der Noise Culture, live und kassettentäterisch zwischen Dark Ambient und Mu¬sique concrète. Der Sog / Kollaborationen (ACT 1054 / Grubenwehr Freiburg, GW/FR:14, Cass) zeigt ihn, signalrot marmoriert, unter Druck und überflutet, Seeufer und Vogelstim¬men überrauscht von was anderem als Wasser. Mit 'Fluggeschwader über dem Lago Mag¬giore' als baustellenlärmig rumorender und dröhnender Störung gebuchter Urlaubsfreu¬den und aggressiv industrialem, impulsiv zuckendem Noise-Furor als 'Schlag ins Gesicht'. 'Kreiseltanz' loopt melancholisch und jault komisch, zwischen Musik, Werkstatt und Schweinestall und wird brausend hingejagt zum 'Vorgartenritual' als dumpfem, vogelig bezwitscherten Tamtam. Zurück ans lappende Ufer, aber statt dessen weggeblasen von Sandstrahlnoise. Wenn Grodock so den Raum zwischen Wunsch und Wirklichkeit besetzt, lässt er bei 'Die dritte Grube' (mit dem Post-Industrial-Veteranen Dieter Müh aus Devon) wieder Melancholie einsickern, mit ferner Musik, die sich in der Erinnerung dreht. 'Rausch' bringt (im Krach & Stahl-Verbund mit Flutwacht) bepulsten Krach, massive Verstöratta¬cken und dunkle Dröhnung. 'Die Omnipotenz eines Hundewelpens' kehrt (mit Oba Boba) zurück zu Melancholie und Komik und kommt dabei, zu harmonischen Dröhnwellen und primitiver Percussion, auf den Hund. Doch 'Wogen' setzt zuletzt (mit Felix Mayer) den Ak¬zent nochmal auf fiese Kakophonie, fällt sich nun aber selber in den Arm, mit stöhnender, dröhnender Harmonik als brummigem Ambiente voller Trompetenwehmut.
badalchemy.de