Tropentarn EP by Use Knife
Guided by analog and modular electronic machinery, Use Knife express their freethinking visions through the words of T.S. Eliot’s poem ‘The Hollow Men’. In thought-provoking times, tackled by polarizing political campaigns, we zig-zag between obstacles to give meaning to our ideas and beliefs. Some collide with violent conviction and “headpiece filled with straw”. They will be remembered as the hollow men.
On their debut EP ‘Tropentarn’, the duo of Heeren and Mordijck, both members of Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat, depict three tracks in which they bust genres and blend post-punk, newer new beat, and experimental pop music into a genuine melting pot of unique electronic current.
Opening track ‘For Helvede’, meaning ‘for fuck’s sake’ in Danish, is being driven by propulsive industrial rhythms and ricocheting sequenced melodies and is an ultimate statement in which Use Knife criticise “the hollow men” for carving up and claiming our ancestral landscapes.
‘For Helvede’ was digitally released in early 2019 as a harbinger and has been described as “hypnotic and high-powered electronic rapture” and “uncomfortable, yet deliciously raving”.
Nigh_Time is a sinister wordplay and it’s tropical new beat vibe veils the despair the lyrics testify. Little by little the feelgood electronic sequence is being overtaken by howling, high-pitched, electronic drones which accompany the folkish choir in it’s desperate search for better lives.
The EP’s title track ‘Tropentarn’ is Use Knife’s take on contemporary pop music resulting in an eight-minute-behemoth prospering on mournful synthleads and bombastic electronic drums. Tropentarn is also German for a camouflage pattern used in arid regions and puts Use Knife in the trenches with the stuffed men; “Headpiece filled with straw.”
Although lyrically connected to Heeren’s brainchild Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat, Use Knife’s sonic journey takes the listener to more modern and disquieting electronic territories and finds them in good company with the likes of Factory Floor, Throbbing Gristle, Silent Servant, Tropic of Cancer among others.
‘Tropentarn’ is the band’s first document and is paving the way for more high-powered electronic rapture in the 2020 future. It is released on vinyl through Wool-E Discs (BE) and digital through House Of Mythology (UK) on March 6, 2020.
Tracklist
| 1. | For Helvede | 5:53 |
| 2. | Nigh_Time | 4:56 |
| 3. | Tropentarn | 8:22 |
Credits
written and played by Use Knife - Stef Heeren & Kwinten Mordijck
mixed by Joris Caluwaerts
backings by Loesje Maieu
mastered by Frederik Dejongh
picture by Arian Christiaens
graphic design by Jef Cuypers
License
All rights reserved.
Use Knife is the raw synergy between Iraqi vocalist/percussionist Saif Al-Qaissy and Belgian musicians Kwinten Mordijck and Stef Heeren. They tell a necessary tale of freedom, responsibility and the gulf between the Eastern and Western mindset. Even the instrumentation itself reflects this friction; intuitively muddling distorted industrial textures and jerky EBM pulses with brittle Iraqi rhythms.