05 snodub YØU

HEY Ø HANSEN '' SNO DUB ''
LP / DIGITAL DOWNLOAD RELEASE: 01.06.2016
Label: heyrec
Katalognummer: heyrec22

Tanz: Luis Widmoser
Kamera: Elke Groen

So where does this come from? Had they not broken up? What was the last one: "Sonn und Mond", that compilation album from 2009, tracing their long path from edgling Rocksteady roots to their very own twisted and charming concoction of alpine world dub chanson bliss? Wait, there was another, in 2010, again released on Pingipung, with brassy tunes and the feat of casually putting the dub back into dubstep: "We so horny", as if all the acclaim it was to meet from the serious crowd was just a joke. And then silence. They must have run out of ideas, right? End of the line, eventually, and mission accomplished.
Well, ideas are a dime a dozen. They are not what it's all about. Austrodub, as they once succinctly put it, means total commitment, naivety, and not fearing failure. And nothing else. With a stance like that, you don't run out of ideas. The best come through your door with foreign tongues and good food and an open heart anyway. And when they don't, it's just as well. hey-o-hansen were essentially a duo, and life put many hundred kilometers between them. That's what happened. Michael Wolf had to return to their mutual hometown of Innsbruck, still a painter and now also an art teacher; Helmut Erler stayed in Berlin as a mastering engineer and occasional solo musician. Five years passed.
Now this. What is it?
It is crisp and icy, angular and brittle, mysterious and massive, crystalline and breathing. It is as free and tight as they've ever been, and it will rub you the wrong way for a while. You'll want to play it on 45. You'll wonder where that pull of heavy, empty space is coming from, so raw and different from their earlier ambition towards a smooth and luscious ow. You'll be tempted to call it electroacoustic dub. With rectangles. But it's not about genres. It wasn't about genres in 2010 either, when dubstep ended up serving as the foil. Here, Michael Wolf selected classic riddims as a basis for each of the tracks, to make clear that it's not about composition. Well what is it all about then, after all? We just said it: It's Austrodub. Nearly became the album's title, too.
At home in the mountains, having been a pioneering climber, Wolf would tell you that taking a break is essential when you've exhausted yourself, and that you should then continue at a slow pace. Helmut Erler conceived of an elaborate setup of half-time renderings and microtemporal variation, and brought their 2011 backing-tracks for concerts that never happened to a fresh life. And here they are, molted to the shape of a true monolith. There was no master plan, just a sudden invitation for them to play at a festival in Innsbruck this June. And so there it is, Sno Dub, born from the tides and pressures of passing life, and you're allowed to dance.
multipara for hey ø hansen, April 2016.