Gudrun Gut: Apples, Pears & Deer In Poland
Monika

Monika Enterprises head Gudrun Gut delivers a digital-only EP that, while brief, manages to memorably present her idiosyncratic take on electronic sampledelica. Sounding like a Berlin beer hall polka gone mad, Thomas Fehlmann's spectacular “Deer Mix” of “Monika In Polen” (Gut's contribution to the Songs For Bruno, Knut & Tom compilation) sashays drunkenly down the tent's aisles, snatching up and slicing'n'dicing vintage folk dance samples as it does. Head-spinning in the best sense of the word, the cut suggests that a more substantial collaboration between Gut and Fehlmann wouldn't be unwelcome. The track spits and sputters for a funky five minutes before stepping aside for “Apples and Pears,” which follows sounds of whizzing traffic with an infected electronic lurch and a creepily murmured vocal that's got deranged stalker written all over it (“I came for you, I came for you…”) (an “Instrumental Dub” version of the track appends the release). It's hard not to be reminded of AGF when the breathy vocals appear in “Apples and Pears” and the other new composition, “Harz4schleife,” which almost dispenses with beats altogether, opting instead for moody sound sculpting and haunted utterances.

June 2009