Vinterjazz: Slumberland (BE)

Vinterjazz: The intersection of sound art, mechanical techno and performance art

"Stirring a pot that simmers on the brink of noise, threatening to boil over, Beautiful to watch and heavenly to hear."

– The Wire Magazine

Armed with an arsenal of homemade instruments, modified sewing machines, old film projectors and other motorized objects, Slumberland creates distinctive mechanical sound installations in which creaking drones, stumbling polyrhythms and minimalist melodies evoke early electronic music, the minimalism movement of the 1970s and psychedelic pioneers such as Suicide, Silver Apples and Fun House-era The Stooges.

Slumberland (BE)

Behind Slumberland is Belgian musician, composer and instrument builder Jochem Baelus, who since 2013 has developed his own hypnotic blend of krautrock, post-punk and acoustic drone. Armed with an arsenal of homemade instruments, modified sewing machines, old film projectors and other motorized objects, he creates distinctive mechanical sound installations in which creaking drones, stumbling polyrhythms and minimalist melodies evoke early electronic music, the minimalism movement of the 1970s and psychedelic pioneers such as Suicide, Silver Apples and Fun House-era The Stooges.

Slumberland began as a solo project in 2013 and later expanded into a trio with two drummers, adding a more organic and physical dimension to Baelus’ mechanical compositions. In 2019, he released the album Sea, Sea, Sea Drifter // See, See, See Drifter, recorded in collaboration with Lebanese-Canadian producer Radwan Ghazi Moumneh, known for his work as Jerusalem In My Heart. This was followed by a collaboration with Tuvan avant-garde vocalist and throat singer Sainkho Namtchylak, resulting in the 2022 album Lightkeeper, released on Rabih Beaini’s legendary label Morphine Records.

After more than a decade of shifting lineups and performances at festivals such as CTM, Le Guess Who?, Rewire and Meakusma, Baelus has now returned to his roots as a solo artist. With a new homemade sound sculpture featuring, among other things, motorized bagpipe-like instruments producing long, abrasive drones, he explores the tension between mechanical repetition, minimalist composition and improvisation. The result is a live experience at the intersection of sound art, mechanical techno and performance art, where the music constantly threatens to collapse into utter noise chaos.

https://www.jochembaelus.com/slumberland.html
https://vimeo.com/820895862

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