HOW TO REFORM MANKIND
The fourth re-issue in the Hafler Trio re-issue series is How To Reform Mankind.
"what's more fun than being
at the most marvellous of parties? being told
about it by someone else. and here are all the juicy details about
who
did to whom, when and where, and who didn't know about it. the
dish is
served, and the beads of moisture are now visible on the glass.
they said
it couldn't be done, and it very nearly wasn't, but we soon took
the smirk
of THEIR faces, now didn't we? a cornucopia of delight, especially
with
absent friends in mind, and indeed. you may never be the same.
and someone
else may not be either." — the hafler trio
With the re-issue of 'How
To Reform Mankind' we complete the trilogy that also holds 'Mastery
Of Money' and 'Kill The King'. Originally released in 1992 by
Touch, now finally seen as should be, including a 24 page booklet,
poster and postcard.
Price is 20 euros including
postage worldwide. All direct orders made with paypal (to: info
@ kormplastics.nl) will receive a free of charge pin, related
to How To Reform Mankind.
an extra text is to be found here
reviews:
The Halfer Trio - How To Reform Mankind (CD, Korm Plastics)
Following the scientific model in which the researcher returns
to the same problem set with slight variations to better understand
the solutions that come from those equations, The Hafler Trio
have often recontextualised previously issued sounds in alternative
environments and compositions. Originally released in 1993, How
To Reform Mankind is the final entry to the 'trilogy in three
parts' alonside Kill The King and Mastery Of Money, and picks
up on this self-recycling theme. The Halfer Trio's Andrew McKenzie
lifts a dreamy mirage of feedback from Walk Through The Gates
Of Joy and notably the piano leitmotif that comprised the Negentropy
album. Far from presenting a taxonomic exercise of early successes,
McKenzie sets ip a psychological interplay between sound and momeory,
in which the signposts from previous works are no longer recognisable.
Surrounded by field recordings smeared into an industrial grey,
sonar pings and eerie vocal shriekings, How To Reform Mankind
is ultimately another magnificent, disorientating conundrum.
(Jim Haynes in The Wire 253/march 2005)
Terwijl geluidsonderzoeker
Andrew McKenzie tegenwoordig vooral uitblinkt in mooi verpakte
kwantiteit, houdt het heruitgavenprogramma van Korm Plastics het
goede oor vooral gericht op de kwalitatief meest interessante
periode (1992) van deze autodidactische wetenschapper. Het CD
sluitstuk van de knappe Touch trilogie ('Kill The King' en 'Mastery
Of Money' werden in de voorbije maanden heruitgebracht) koppelt
de typische H3O dreunexperimenten aan pianoloops en enkele ritmische
momenten. Ook visueel zit alles snor met de traditionele portefeuilleverpakking
(met poster en postkaart), grappige oneliners en enkele hilarische
plaatjes. Naakte dikke Duitsers beconcurreren Japanse schoolmeisjes
met houten geweren, en twee agenten die een individu in konijnenpak
in de boeien slaan. Essentieel.
(Peter Vercauteren, Gonzo Circus 67)
Eine Staffel
älterer Senioren schreitet nackt über eine Wiese, bücherlesend.
Zwei Polizisten verfrachten ein überdimensioniertes Wesen
im Bunnykostüm in die Grüne Minna. Eine Gruppe japanischer
Ballettmädchen wird an Flinten zum Landsturm gedrillt. Ein
dünnes Pfeifen und ganz tiefe Basswellen bei ,the brain sneezing'.
Dann ,I remain.......': Ein stehendes Wummern und hellere Orgel-,
Pfeif- und Wahwahsounds. Wo sind wir? Bei How To Reform Mankind
(GOD / kp § 8 subsection 6) von THE HAFLER TRIO. Wie bei
Mastery Of Money suchen sich auch hier die Titel seltsame Adressaten:
I : for those waiting : II : for those with nothing else : III
: for those not involved : IV : for those who stole : V : for
the rides : VI : for that which used to be a brother : VII : for
everything. Im Zentrum dieses ursprünglich 1992 auf Touch
veröffentlichten dritten Teils einer mit Kill The King begonnen
Trilogie steht das fast halbstündige ,the emasculation of
contempt': Erst 10 Minuten lang stur repitierte Pianotriolen über
einem monotonen dong dong dong, dann verschobene Figuren geloopt,
von gespenstischen Schreien durchschrillt. Dann der Umbruch in
ein kochendes Brausen, wie eine der küchenalchemystischen
Rituale der Firework-Schweden, in das sich im letzten Drittel
rollende Trommelschläge mischen, wie man sie früher
beim Gang zum Schafott spielte. ...the matter distilled from what
once were dreams: no dust, no mirrors, no regrets. Dennoch heißt
Track 4 ,all done with mirrors'. McKenzie schätzt den Juckreiz
mehr als das Kratzen und sein Reformvorstellungen sind definitiv
andere als die der Sozialdemontage. Wenn das Hirn nießen
muss, ist das dann Epilepsie, Tourette, oder der Versuch, staubfrei
zu denken? Means devised to facilitate two-directional traffic
from within the third, invisible lane. Warum springt das Alphabet
von t nach v, Dr. Watson? Dissolutions of the walls, piles of
deadly dust, plans extented too far, snapping with audible reports,
deeper, down. open arms and veiled farewells. IV bis VI sind Reflektionen
des Brausens. Erst ,total instant relief' bringt wieder ein rhythmisches
Flattern und Loops von Schreien und dann nur noch einen dröhnenden
Abgrund, den Echolotpings ohne Widerhall ausloten.
(Bad Lachemy 46)
HAFLER TRIO,
THE - How To Reform Mankind (Korm Plastics) cd
How To Reform Mankind marks yet another entry in the reissue campaign
of The Hafler Trio's early research into sound and its effect
upon the human psyche. It was the third in what now stands as
the first of many untitled "triologies of three," standing
as the final chapter to the series featuring Kill The King and
Mastery of Money. Within the entire catalogue of the Hafler Trio,
How To Reform Mankind (1994) represents one of the last records
that Andrew McKenzie produced before drastically slowing down
his activities in the middle and late '90s. In many ways, this
album is also an exceptional culmination of the ideas that McKenzie
propagated throughout the '80s, which reflect a considerably different
perspective upon his work, his life, and the world in general.
The early Hafler Trio albums revelled in the miscommunication,
the recycling of information within new contexts, and a disorientation
caused by the play between what is real and what might be real.
In recent years, The Hafler Trio's idioms have suggested a revelation
/ obfuscation of truth in the grand traditions of ancient Gnosticism.
Psychoacoustics and the psychological impact of sound have both
figured heavily into all of the Hafler Trio's work, and these
areas of research are profoundly present on How To Reform Mankind.
Subtle flutterings of shortwave data have been processed into
rarified air; low volume, resonant frequencies colliding with
the body for a chest-cavity massage; the clunky piano from McKenzie's
Negentropy album returns as a post-serialist leitmotif; and desolate
sonar plinks slam against metal walls to astounding effect. McKenzie's
uncompromising drive for his art has made the Hafler Trio one
of the greatest artistic endeavors of the last two decades; and
How To Reform Mankind stands close to the top of his best recordings.
(from: Aquarius.org).
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