"We first discovered amazing German duo Rockford Kabine via their debut full length,
Italian Music: 31 Invalid Movie Themes, which on the surface played like a series of micro
snippets of actual Italian soundtrack music, interspersed with snippets of dialogue,
brief excerpts from what we can only assume are in fact real films, the music the perfect
compliment, wah wah guitars, Morricone-ish twang, smoky synths, spooky rhythmic
dronescapes. It was an incredible collection of music that very well could have been
soundtrack music, but was in fact an original creation, imagined music for imaginary
Italian films. And we were blown away. Not soon after, the band contacted us to let us
know that they were already working on a follow up, this one an ACTUAL soundtrack,
to some sort of arty XXX adult film, yep, a porno, which in some weird way made sense,
what with RK's ability to conjure up super sultry and sexy sounds, that draw from all
sorts of different sources, their music already cinematic on its own, seemingly perfect
to be wedded to visuals, and heck, when the visuals turn out to consist of sexy women,
some wielding daggers, wearing World War 2 style gasmasks and leather bodysuits and
well, it's tough to argue with that. But since the soundtrack was to be available ONLY as
a bonus disc with the movie itself, it required some wrangling, and contacting an
actual adult film distributor down in SoCal to get our hands on copies.
But we're so glad we did. Even removed from the visuals, like all great soundtrack music,
Rockford Kabine's score for XERO is incredible, haunting, mysterious, groovy, funky,
abstract, cinematic for sure, but also lush and experimental and moody and mysterious.
The strange thing too is that the film seems quite European, almost like some Inglorious
Basterds style Tarantino war pic (or maybe that's just the aforementioned gas mask get
up getting to us), but the music is very Eastern, in fact all the titles seem to be
in Japanese, which only adds to the mystique of Rockford Kabine's fantastic soundworld.
So we'll discuss the film in a bit, but as aQ is a record store, and this is in fact our
Record Of The Week, it's probably best to discuss the soundtrack/score all on
its own first.
Like Italian Music before it, XERO is a series of shortish tracks, between 1 and 2 minutes,
each super distinctive, with the duo conjuring up incredible mysterious moods in
a manner of seconds, leaving the listener in most cases wanting more more more.
And like their Italian Music, this does play out like some sort of DJ Shadow style
sonic collage, still drawing from Morricone, and the Italian giallo tradition,
but also from classic '70s porno music, with some funk and groove,
but instead of the oft ridiculed wah wah guitar style porn kitsch,
this is much more evocative, and dark, guitars are slithery, basslines low slung,
undulating, bells chimes, notes drift through fields of reverb, riffs chug and
churn only to dissipate in a field of chimes, spaced out drones collide with
almost Tangerine Dream like synths, flutes flit and flutter, the rhythms are
minimal and motorik, some tracks playing out like some
krautrock groove (reminding us that Can made softcore soundtracks too,
way back when), others like some lost cosmic disco. It's actually quite hard
to describe XERO, there are so many different sounds and styles, and
it's hard to imagine them working as a soundtrack, especially to
an super stylized XXX art film, but removed from the film, the music,
as varied and constantly shifting as it is, somehow plays out cohesively,
like an album proper, guitar twang is laced over a minimal footstep like
rhythm, organs wheeze, everything sounds softly woozy and lysergic,
exotic percussion collides with gamelan like melodies,
minimal hip hop beats are wrapped around stuttering loops,
occasionally coalescing into some seriously fuzzy hairy funk,
other times drifting into Goblin style almost new wave sounding
synthscapes, acoustic guitars unfurl some Western strum,
but woven in are some haunting synth melodies, even some
mysterious voices, soaring strings and sorrowful piano,
tense droned out ambience, skittery almost Portishead style
downtempo beats, bells and chimes, all sorts of strange production,
the sound sometimes crystal clear and lush and lovely, other times hazy
and druggy and gorgeously washed out, a kaleidoscopic sonic journey
through some imaginary world of naked women, gasmasks and daggers,
weird Asian masks, furry shag rugs, a world that would have stayed
imaginary had these sounds not been used to edit the film of the
same name. The film is indeed pornographic, and XXX.
It's all female-on-female, there's very little actual hardcore sex though.
And while it IS a porno, with no plot to speak of, it's almost more
like it's about the music. Indeed, the movie was edited to the music,
much like Sergio Leone used to blast Morricone's scores on the set
and have the actors move to the music, so the film here is a series
of impressionistic tableaus, the colors acid drenched and super saturated,
long slow stripteases, even the actual sex is strangely arty and not
traditionally sexy, but the strange constantly shifting images, the cool,
always changing music, work together, creating something much more
than a porno, in fact, the film seemed more like something the band
would project behind them when they performed live, strange masks,
the aforementioned rubberclad gasmasked mystery woman,
another woman who looks a bit like a sexier female version of
Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name, long duster, big hat, face obscured by hair,
and as the back cover proclaims, "See the shocking ending the censors
didn't want you to witness", and we can definitely attest to the fact
that the ending is really weird, depressing and violent, and not at all sexy,
but in some way, that makes this whole project more interesting, and bizarre,
and pretty much perfect for Rockford Kabine's incredible soundtrack.
Though of course you don't HAVE to watch it, the prudish can enjoy the soundtrack
fully without reference to the visuals. Needless to say, this is TOTALLY RECOMMENDED,
but, since the soundtrack cd does in fact come with an XXX rated adult dvd,
thus is required some unaccustomed legalese on our part, as follows...
This is only to be purchased by adults, and by purchasing this, and/or adding it
to your online shopping cart, you are hereby agreeing to these stipulations:
that you are an in fact an adult, being of legal age, 18 or 21, in your legal jurisdiction
to view adult oriented material that may be sexual or graphical in nature.
(Local laws vary throughout the United States, so if you are not 100 percent sure
of the laws applicable to you, you are advised to check before purchasing.)
Further, you agree that you will not redistribute this material to anyone
for which it is illegal for them to view or possess such material,
nor will you permit any minor, or any person who would find this personally
offensive, of view this material, and finally that you will hold harmless aQuarius recOrds,
its officers, ISP, and employees, from and against any claims, liability, losses, costs,
damages, or expenses (including attorney's fees) arising from you use of the images
contained on the dvd. Furthermore, you will defend aQuarius recOrds
against all claims of impropriety regarding your purchase of this item.
Phew. We'd have put all that in small print if we could. "
Aquarius Records (San Francisco), 2010.
Rockford Kabine - XERO / Official Album Teaser (USA, BRD, 2010).
