The Kaldor Public Art Projects is a dream for local artists in the Philippines. Commissioning various artists in different fields, the movement is shaped by its passion for contemporary arts, as characterized by its hero John Kaldor. The organization has remained not-for-profit for 40 years as it shapes Australia’s view of modern arts, changing the level of appreciation, substance and taste. The projects are designed for the public to experience as the works are brought outside the interpretation of venue and influence. For music, Kaldor Public Art Projects released Asleep On Red Earth Under Bright Stars an 11-track free for download compilation that gathers Australia’s accomplished musicians including the duo Kompost.
New Zealanders Brett Jons and Chrs Familton are the brains behind Kompost, an experimental krautronica band that mix beeps and blips out of various drone instruments and from “scraps and discarded waste.” The Jons and Familton were former bass players in their respective bands before forming the guitar/drums punk rock duo The Finalists. Eventually the two conceived Kompost. How on earth do these modern life excesses constructively debauched into songs with ambient and IDM qualities in them? The songs speak for themselves. “Kaamp” has a muted bird sounds in it, alloyed into something like electric statics while “Drained” is the sound your brain makes when you are on a subway hitting pitch darkness off of a tunnel under a busy highway. Coming off of “Oxdeadbeef” is a nostalgic pattern of beats bouncing along flickers of iron-felt hits and a man’s coughing, yes. The band’s latest is “Consuela Marbella“ that begins with crispy, crackling strains that dried, small tree braches make when burned. Listening closely, the embers flying off of the bonfire are not surprising to make an appearance in the song as the background “action sequence” space leads the song to its end.
These sounds are not strange to us, really. These natural, ground noises, if you may call them, are heard everyday but not interpreted as music. Experimental at the most, listening to their songs are like the most proper soundtrack to the modern man’s life. Embarking on us journey of space and moods, the drowned melodies are like sounds of technology and human consumption, mobile phones hisses tuned to a laptop and overpriced cold coffee aluminum crashed like a gnarling electric guitar. To understand what I mean, visit Kompost’s Bandcamp for more of their songs + Facebook to interact with the band.
Filed under: Musicians: Profiles & Interviews, Kompost Ambient Electronic Music, Kompost Australian Band, Kompost Consuela Marbella, Kompost Kaamp, Kompost The Kaldor Public Art Projects
