the release

keen-eyed readers of previous [ parvoart ] press releases will have noticed that amongst references to the label producing ambient, microsound, contemporary classical and dub techno sounds, one other genre was also referred to, that - until now - has been absent from our recordings, namely the much maligned   classification ‘post-rock’ much ink has been spilled over the years on this subject, in the last few years most of it bad as its current purveyors seem to be producing something that is more rock than post, ten minute epics going from silence to supernova, eschewing vocals and adding a few strings. basically the name is used to avoid using the even more hideous title ‘progressive rock’ (which in fact most of it is). once upon a time it meant (paraphrasing journalist simon reynolds via wikipedia) “the use of "rock instrumentation" for non-rock purposes but using rhythms, harmonies, melodies, timbre, and chord progressions that are not usually found in rock tradition”. it is this definition that [ parvoart ] seeks to uphold.

this has a double significance for marc osterneier, the man behind parvo 010, the mini album percolate firstly he was a member of the shoegaze/post-rock (there it is!) band should, who released a pair of albums in the late nineties. secondly, and more relevantly to this release, the maryland based musician (who moonlights as a professor at the local university) is now creating – as he puts it – “experimental and ambient compositions often built from skeletal piano melodies and augmented with electronics and acoustic recordings” that evoke ur-post-rock legends labradford in their mi media naranja and el luxo so phase, or later period harold budd, (once he’d dropped the excessive reverb and chorus effects). marc’s description is entirely accurate – percolate is filled with understated melodies played on both acoustic and rhodes piano while the electronic elements – a skeletal beat here, a pad or sample there - are used sparingly to couch the piano, not overwhelm it. and at the emotional core of the mini-album – the tracks clockwork and scratchy these elements are joined by a third – airy, melancholic, twangy guitar worthy of marc nelson, ry cooder or loren connors. and although marc’s stated aim is to create something that “evokes a melancholic stillness”, the mini-album is not monochromatic – penultimate track continuity hints at ambient techno while closer persuasion ends on a wistful, blissful / somnambulistic note, that whilst not ecstatic, seems to hint that maybe life isn’t so bad after all.

marc is going to be a busy fellow in 2010 – percolate will be followed by another mini album on our good friends hibernate label and a full-length cd album on words on music, the label marc himself has been running with his brother since 1998. for more details check marc’s pages at www.myspace.com/marcostermeier and www.words-on-music.com/mostermeier

the reaction

to follow