Starfish Enterprises - When We Fall (1993)

Debut of 4-man Belgian noise rock combo Starship Enterprises. Even though they later released their second album Sonic Symphony Number One, the band was not a commercial success and split up. Steven Lambrechts, one of the two songwriters for the band, turned more towards experimental and ambient music with Ontayso, while the other, Koen Leybaert, sought his luck in techno and electronic music. The latter is also mentioned further down this b-log in relation to a project with RIOU.

As for the album itself, disconcerting samples and stylistic influences from noise, industrial, ambient, metal and even bluesrock contribute to the strange musical experience called When We Fall. Overally, the music is minimalistic and hypnotic; most tracks exemplify a kind of rock one could call experimental, psychedelic, noisy and dark. My favourite one is probably the seventh, Expulsive: an anguished, brooding environment with some very subtle guitar playing and a brilliant combination of samples and ambient sounds. Not for everyone, but if you're open to this kind of stuff, I think you would really dig the album's dark surreal atmosphere, which is basically its greatest trump. If you liked Glenn Branca's The Ascension (see below), chances are you'll like this one.

Musicians

• Hugo Peeters: Bass
• Stefan Mertes: Drums
• Steven Lambrechts: Guitar
• Koen Leybaert: Guitar, Samples

Tracks

1. Jim Jones (6:28)
2. Anthony's world (6:33)
3. Second (2:08)
4. State of Enterprises (5:20)
5. When We Fall (5:24)
6. Sand-glass (9:21)
7. Expulsive (6:09)
8. Me, El Medahey and the Electric Entourage (5:55)
9. Third (1:05)

Starfish_Enterprises_When_We_Fall_192.rar

posted by Paxjorge @ Saturday, March 25, 2006