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László Hortobágyi — Transreplica Meccano (Complete Edition)
(áMARXE 0124CD, 1989/2024, CD / DL / LP)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2024-03-15

Transreplica Meccano (Complete Edition) Cover art

Hungarian avant-garde composer László Hortobágyi’s first solo recording remains a powerful statement as to what can be accomplished in a cross-genre pan-world musical sense, and here it is reissued on compact disc on áMARXE Música for the first time since the 1989 recording made its CD debut in 1991, with three bonus tracks from the same recording sessions. One might be surprised as to how well all of the world instrumentation works in the context of his compositions, which are rooted in electronics: one can hear synthesizers, sequencers, and samplers mix with strings, tabla, sitar, voices, and vocoder, with occasional blasts of pipe organ and other instruments (flute, bass, trombone, and more) across fourteen genre-defying tracks that hint at classical, world, floating ambient, and other mystical forms. Opener “Intra-sutra,” across a mere three-and-a-half minutes presents a swirling floating world that could easily be mistaken for some of Forrest Fang’s earliest work circa Migration; it’s a track that seems much longer than it really is. Moving to full-on exotic, “Balinese-Gat” uses flute sounds, drums, a variety of percussion, and vocoder to spice up a funky groove that seems to be hovering in some lost context. With only two minutes running time, “Organix” presents a dreamy spectre of synths, bells, and layered floating voices that wraps around the listener like a warm blanket on a snowy night. The oddly titled “Kirana-Baj-Ki-Baroque” mixes synthesized harpsichord, tablas, hand drums, and intermittent blasts of treated voices for a delightfully exotic romp across the better part of eight minutes. “Nono-Bol” is a short one, beginning with a baby’s voice enunciating over a simple repeating melodic figure while trombones, flute, and bass playfully occupy the background. The appropriately titled “Cathedral of Reptiles” is a dark, haunting, and mystifying piece that exudes frightening blasts of evil sounds that would be entirely fitting as part of a horror movie soundtrack. Likewise, “Sepultus” (one of the three bonus tracks) is even darker, cycling though an ongoing groove of vocoder blasts and splashes of synth — all unusual and beautiful in its own creepy way. Transreplica Meccano is as engaging today as it was when it first appeared back at the end of the 80s, and definitely worthy of investigation.

Filed under: Reissues, 2024 releases, 1989 recordings

Related artist(s): László Hortobágyi / Gayan Uttejak Orchestra

More info
http://amarxe.bandcamp.com/album/transreplica-meccano-complete-edition

 

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