Lappetites Before The Libretto CD - Import

Founded by U.K. artist Kaffe Matthews as an open-ended collective pursuing various creative goals, the Lappetites first appeared on record with Before the Libretto, named because it came about, as the brief liner notes indicate, "whilst researching the opera." The four-person lineup -- Matthews, French musician Eliane Radigue, noted German performer AGF, and Japanese composer Ryoko Kuwajima -- subsume themselves completely into the Lappetites identity throughout, as no individual song, musical, or other credits are provided. The result honestly feels like a multi-part collaboration instead of, say, a supergroup -- it's impossible to readily guess who provided what outside of a vocal performance or two ("Stop No. 394 Falkirk Street" has its unnerving musical moans contrasted by Matthews' not-at-all reassuring delivery, while Kuwajima clearly performs on the lullaby-gone-strange "Aikokuka"). Meanwhile, the resultant collages are so off-kilter and startling that it really is a case of a new artistic identity being created. Opening song "Tzungentwist" starts everything without ceremony in a clashing combination of vocal phrases fragments and murky, unsettling rhythms, while "My Within" touches on everything from dank drones to bubbling glitch vocals and rhythms over simultaneously serene and haunting tones and chants. It's a gripping start and from there the foursome doesn't hold back, finding a balance between play and disruption that calls to mind what early Aphex Twin could do, though even more irrhythmic and attention-grabbing. Sudden shifts from grinding blasts to loping bass notes, song endings so immediate and unexpected that even Wire might take notice, and more such twists abound (the best for any English majors -- the lyrics to "Prologue" come from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.) Perhaps intentionally, "Disaster" is easily the first calm song of the bunch, but even the buzzing bass hums find themselves swamped by an alarm-like texture over time. ~ Ned Raggett

The Lappetites: Kaffe Matthews, Antye Greie-Fuchs, Eliane Radigue, Ryoko Kuwajima.

The Wire (p.52) - "The Lappetites' approach to opera, and especially to voice, is much nearer to Robert Ashley than Puccini, based as it is predominately on spoken word and laden with quirks of speech."
The Wire (p.44) - Included in The Wire's "2005 Rewind: 50 Records Of The Year."