CD, Triple Bath, 2008
www.myspace.com/feufolletmusic
As is usual with the releases on Triple Bath, each CD-R is packed in a simple yet well-designed cardboard cover stuck in a plastic envelope. And as usual, each release is prepared in a batch of 96 copies, after which it is sold out. Label owner Themis Pantelopoulos has had an eye for artists who are still relatively unknown to a larger audience, but who deserve a release because of their art. Past releases from, for example, Red Needled Sea, Nokalypse and Simulacra are the proof of this.
For its tenth release Triple Bath asked Tobias Fisher – known for his activities for the highly praised Tokafi webzine, as well as his labels Einzeleinheit and Ex Ovo – for a release. Under the name Feu Follet, Fisher creates massive ambient soundscapes built from drones, field recordings, loops and additional instruments. The first track, entitled “Norwegian Cowboy,” creates a creepy, unsettling atmosphere. The sounds are very well layered and mixed, and especially the background drone is very rich. The sounds dropped over this background are hasty, almost haunted, and one could say they are so active in the sound perspective so as to almost trip over each other.
The second track is the title track and closes the CD. Yes, there are just two tracks, but relax: the playing time is over 40 minutes. “Fogbank” has a much more oppressive atmosphere. It is indeed like sailing an empty ocean where suddenly a fogbank appears between your ship and your goal. Faint sounds, smothered voices… It is just like your brain can’t tell the difference between being blind and being deaf. The track is at least as unsettling as the first one, but in a different way. No hasty and fast repetitive loops or delays, but in its minimalism is a collection of well-chosen sounds.
A final remark must be made, and that is the gorgeous production of the sounds on this release; clear and open where they should be transparent and a little bit swampy where clouds indeed should obscure them.
[8.5/10]
— Bauke van der Wal