The Siege of Troy

It's hard to mentally put together all the elements of The Siege of Troy, released as a self titled album and EP by Gunnar Wendel under this new name. It's also hard to really call it house music, though doubtless it pulls many elements of that genre into its loose yet freely evolving sound; the term thrown out as a descriptor on its release last month was Jacknoise, a tag which may adds something but certainly doesn't seem to sum up the release. 

Throughout there is a very disorientating quality to the music, seemingly somewhere in orbit about a house music core it pulls kicks and bouncing beats off at will, precariously close to spiraling off into broken beats or even freeform noise, yet somehow balancing sounds in a chaotic motion which evolves faster than anything Wendel has previously turned his hand to. Similarly when trying to describe the music, it begins to touch upon a genre briefly before taking off in a completely different direction, at times a middle eastern edge makes it feel close to Muslimgauze or the militant abrasion of Vatican Shadow, then suddenly a morph and you're left closer to Madteo or some mutant house hybrid. There is very little here to lend a tag to and very little stable ground at all, compared with the Kassem Mosse styling this feels like a mood board, with each track potentially a separate LP's worth of material, but for that there is a lot of intrigue and this is certainly a tape to be left on loop for a full 3 or 4 rotations before you feel able to settle on it. 

A full on experiment in the blending of sounds to form something cohesive, this kind of depth, variety and freeform composition is so rarely attempted by producers with a club music background, whether the project will go anywhere is pretty questionable, but this is a gem of a release which will definitely bring you back on occasion for a full on mindfuck.

Officially dropping on 13th May on cassette (& a shortened form on 7") through Wendel's Ominira imprint, this was instantly gone, but Phonica Records have a few copies in stock as of today, be quick.