Qua - Forgetabout

Mush Records



Cornel Wilczek is a maestro of beat bricolage and in his debut album, now reissued by Mush Records, he comes clothed in airy, reluctant symphonies. Recorded and mixed at home between January 2000 and June 2001, Qua's "Forgetabout" is a true and irresistible feast of sounds, superbly sequenced like a meticulously glued collage.

The Melbourne, Australia-based sonic surgeon seems irresistibly drawn towards pocket-sized electronics. Surprisingly or not, the Qua project started with an invitation to play with a band, and then built a silent, little crowd of followers. There's that sweet n' sour breeze in here that embellishes any folktronica album, but "folktronica" is not the most appropriate word for his music.

Therefore, his website suggests a brand new subgenre: "Quatronica". Definitely, a better tag for his proposition, one that is enlivened by a focus on clinical, solid beats. Wilczek really breaks stone here, as he seems to instigate a revolt by driving arsonists to extinguish a fire. The set is somehow drafted with the silenced opener, "Little Branches & Little Birds".

For the rest of the album, Qua tries to live out the apparent paradox between setting a nature-based scenario, and then delivering electricity-related numbers like "800x600", "Robot Unknown" and "Sys_Environment". Well yeah, that is Quatronica at its least posed and pretentious! Wilczek subtly inverts the formulaic (but always excellent) delivery of, say, Mouse on Mars, only to draw an astute line between the overtly sanctified glitch and the holy spirits of the natural ghosts.

If you can say the words "pastoral electronics" and still keep a straight face, maybe you should forget about all the techno, aimless junk that pollutes your ear, and give "Forgetabout" a close listen. Qua will excavate the detritus of your torn-out little empire and build a city for you, where you can put the sun out every night. And if this album sounds like a dream, you have just found the oneiric qualities of it. Or you have just reached the final track!

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