12z – playful sonic adventures
Published May, 2013
by Easterndaze
12z is an improvisational project from Budapest, whose regular weekly sessions in their Buda flat overlooking a park and the famous Gellert hill, have lead to a full-fledged album, recorded not in Budapest, but in a countryside hut. 12z’s Marci Kristof has told me that he doesn’t think music that is aimed at live contexts, should be statified on record. This has, nevertheless, happened now, surprisingly courtesy of the Budapest label Farbwechsel, which usually focuses on more 4/4 type of music.
<a href=“http://farbwechsel.bandcamp.com/track/deserted-huts-nearby” data-mce-href=“http://farbwechsel.bandcamp.com/track/deserted-huts-nearby”>Deserted Huts Nearby by Farbwechsel</a>
Their self-titled album is a psychedelic meddley, manouvering through various sonic territories – art/rock/ambient/free/jazz/experimental/electronics. A syneasthetic soundtrack to hazy faded afternoons, with a dash of Eastern nostalgia, but essentially, uncategorisable, and good that way.
<a href=“http://farbwechsel.bandcamp.com/track/sad-truth-at-roadhouse” data-mce-href=“http://farbwechsel.bandcamp.com/track/sad-truth-at-roadhouse”>Sad Truth At Roadhouse by Farbwechsel</a>
<a href=“http://farbwechsel.bandcamp.com/track/celebrating-pope-and-antipope” data-mce-href=“http://farbwechsel.bandcamp.com/track/celebrating-pope-and-antipope”>Celebrating Pope And Antipope by Farbwechsel</a>
The song-titles are onomatopoeic, such as “White Mountain Apache Knows No Fear”, and seemingly arbitrary, it’s instrumental music, in the end. The 16 tracks are diverse, and somehow, in spite of being recorded live and by a project that essentially, favours the fleeting rather than the material, it works.
There are also more traditional “songs"on the album, such as "Reflecting Bean”, which features vocals.
<a href=“http://farbwechsel.bandcamp.com/track/reflecting-bean” data-mce-href=“http://farbwechsel.bandcamp.com/track/reflecting-bean”>Reflecting Bean by Farbwechsel</a>
You can listen to the interview with the band in our weekly Radio Wave show Vychodiska – in Czech, but featuring music here.