Mona Mur and En Esch - 120 Tage: The Fine Art of Beauty and ViolenceDark cabaret clashes with brutal industrial as two of the scene's most renowned artists create a work of seductive theatricality.
Mona Mur and En Esch have been two of the more exuberant characters in the underground music scene, carving out their own respective niches as artists on the edge, always finding ways to push the musical envelope. With 120 Tage: The Fine Art of Beauty and Violence, the two come together to create an album that is true to its title, juxtaposing sensual energies amid a brutal array of industrial soundscapes. And yet, underlying each track is a series of dark and intense melodic counterpoints that will surely put many in the mind of the era of the Weimar Republic. Indeed, the songs "Surabaya Johnny" and "Der Song von Mandelay" feature elements originally composed by Kurt Weill and Bert Brecht, two writers most closely identified with this musical style of cabaret-influenced dark pop, and the ease with which Mona Mur and En Esch translate these songs into a flurry of guttural guitars, caustic drum programming, whimsical synthesizer loops, and oppressive industrial clamor - with hints of organ and piano for good measure - without sacrificing the darkly macabre and sensuous energies of the originals is both disturbing and lovely.
Perhaps the best example of this dark cabaret style is "Mon Amour," a glitch-laden waltz of distorted textures and clanking percussion, as if one had opened a seedy jazz club in the middle of a construction site. "Visions & Lies" has all the makings of an industrial club hit, for despite the restrained tempo, its slinky synth bass lines and bouncy electro beats border on sleazy, coupled with Esch's signature guitar licks to make it one of the album's most memorable moments. Similarly, the densely layered "Eintagsfliegen," which was co-written with members of Einstürzende Neubauten, features groovy organ and funky guitar licks amid a deceptively simple bass line, while Mur's chants of "This is my rifle, this is my gun / one is for killing, the other is for fun" come across as both erotic and menacing. Esch's vocals are scattered in small doses throughout the album, but the interplay between his signature rasp and Mur's theatrical bravado make for a rather enticing mix that really emphasizes the synergy between these two artists.
It's fair to say that 120 Tage is much more aggressive than the average dark cabaret album; where artists like Revue Noir or The Hellblinki Sextet might intersperse moments of blunt lyrical harshness and even faint hints of humor into an otherwise tightly knit package of jazzy pop melancholy, Mona Mur and En Esch go straight for the jugular. Where other artists employing this style might sound like the depressive lovelorn musings of a broken chanteuse condemning heartbreak and aching for love, the songs on 120 Tage sound more like the belligerent demands of a dominatrix intent on leaving you with a few cigarette burns on your flesh. Sound unpleasant? Perhaps if you prefer black roses and dark chocolate, but this is not that kind of album, and all the better for it. The collaboration between Mona Mur and En Esch has certainly yielded a characteristically grim yet seductive album that will surely suck you in for repeated beating... sorry, listening.
Source: Press Release
Source: Press Release
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