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Stephan Thelen — Worlds in Collision
(RareNoise no#, 2025, CD / DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2025-06-20

Worlds in Collision Cover art

In many ways the recording at hand bears a lot of similarities to the Fractal Sextet’s Sky Full of Hope that we reviewed in these pages earlier this year; indeed many of the same players are involved, and there are many overt likenesses, like the unusual angular rhythms and deep funkay bottom end that permeates many of these eight pieces. Where they differ is in the atmospherics and inclusion of many looped voice samples, evidently influenced by the Eno/Byrne 1981 classic My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, a trait which becomes apparent more as the album progresses, reaching a zenith on “Atomic,” perhaps the album’s finest track, using samples of President Truman’s announcement after dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Many of those voice loops are curated by Fabio Anile, who also supplies various sampled instruments, synthesizer, echoplex and percussion. David Torn is on hand doing live looping and guitar, and Jon Durant playing all manner of guitar (acoustic, electric, fretless, cloud) and guitar synthesizer. Yogev Gabay gets a massive salute for his incredible work behind the drum kit here, managing some near-unimaginable odd meter syncopations with aplomb, and the everpresent bass is mostly provided by Thelen, although Ian Allison and Tim Harries get one track each. In addition, Thelen features on electric guitar, delays, electronics, electric piano, organ, marimba, santoor, samples, percussion, and programming, with Manuel Pasquinelli handling percussion on the opener “Palermo.” Even after a dozen or more plays I’m still hearing surprises, things that weren't noticed on any of the previous spins — it’s that kind of record. The album proper contains seven tracks, with a Bill Laswell remix of “Atomic” added as a bonus track (which means extra-bassy, of course), and it’s certainly different enough from the regular version to make it worthy of inclusion. A number of standout cuts abound, like the approprately titled “Bullet Train,” the trippy title track, and the deep groove “Voices from the Ether.” All taken, Worlds in Collision stands as an amazing accomplishment all around.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): David Torn, Stephan Thelen, Jon Durant

More info
http://stephanthelen.bandcamp.com/album/worlds-in-collision

 

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