Brannten Schnüre – Muschelsammlung

Reissue of what i think was Brannten Schnure's sixth record, originally released in a typically low edition on Vrystaete in 2017. Much seems to have changed in the underground since then, not least for BS who appear to have accumulated an ever increasing cult following (or should that be understanding?), their hallucinatory, post-industrial, folk-indebted music finding obvious allies in the Gothenburg set and particularly the cluster of artists tied to IDDB/Forlag For Fri Musik. The comparisons make sense, but i'm drawn in other directions, also. Listening to Muschelsammlung again now, a quietly ambitious collection with a clearly defined process that references both Neitzsche's Ecce Home and German nursery rhyme (that contrast is their dissonance), i'm reminded mostly of early Hype Williams and their layering and collaging of disparate cultural touchstones. Like Blunt and Copeland, Christian Schoppik and Katie Rich have an ability to weave confusing and often sinister narratives, which openly embrace their influences (sampling seems to be a shared approach) but keep the intentions for doing so ambiguous and opaque. Just what is being said here? Knowing might not matter, like forgetting a dream, or remembering a nightmare, but the experience is enough. Another low edition, wont hang around.