CD-R, Le Petit Maschiniste, 2010
www.simonschall.com
Despite this being Simon Schall’s third album, the world has yet to see an upswing in the popularity of sci-fi/horror/cyber films like Shinya Tsukamoto’s “Tetsuo” series. This strikes me as odd, because it would seem, upon casual listening, that Herr Schall’s music project is nothing more than an attempt to recreate scores for films in the same genre as this cult classic. “Induktion der Ruhe” is no exception to this. The machine aesthetic Schall panders to becomes drab, as if it lacks additional sensory impact – exactly the niche that visuals of men becoming biomechanical killing machines would fill.
The album is obviously not designed as a club hit – more than two thirds of the record is pure mechanical ambience – but even with this fact in mind, not enough happens over the course of these eleven tracks to make it worth consideration as an ambient event.
Schall’s press release for “Induktion der Ruhe” describes the album’s underlying message as one of interpersonal pressures between human beings when they stop communicating, and the robotic repetitiveness of the sounds he weaves definitely support this. Sadly, the message is lost in the medium, as its non-dynamic nature does not lend itself to repeated listening.
While this review may come across as a lambasting of Simon Schall’s musical efforts, that is not the intention. If anything, it is a frustrated reaction to wasted potential. His previous record, “Have a Noise Day” (available as a free download from his website) is a far superior effort: less polished, more visceral and, resultingly, far more sincere. While popular legend says Mozart’s “Die Entführung aus dem Serail” held the fatal flaw, according to Emperor Joseph II, of having too many notes, Schall’s “Induktion der Ruhe” is guilty of the opposite: not enough. Not enough melody, not enough emotion, not enough communication; not enough of anything, in fact, for me to recommend it.
[4/10]
— David van der Merwe