Icebreaker International - Trein Maersk
(It)
Concept albums we have seen plenty of, but concept bands? Icebreaker
International is a transatlantic duo that is the musical wing of
NATOarts, an organization that claims
to be funded by NATO (yes, as in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization),
seeking "to promote global security and stability through the exhibition
of works of conceptual art." Thus, Icebreaker's instrumental music is
constructed to achieve the goals of the NATOarts "Board of Directors."
Icebreaker's debut album from last year, Distant Early Warning, was an homage
to the system of radar stations in the northernmost Arctic areas of Alaska and
Canada that were constructed during the Cold War to detect incoming missiles.
For the band's second album, NATOarts (supposedly) sent the duo on a seven week
voyage around the world aboard the cargo ship Trein Maersk (where the album
gets its name), traveling through the ports of Yokohama, Singapore, Dubai,
Rotterdam, and Halifax. The purpose of the trip was to produce an audio report
of their voyage for the purpose of promoting "free international trade."
The difference between the two albums is evident in the difference between
NATOarts' "directives" for each "report." Distant Early Warning, much like the
area it is focused on, is cold and minimal (but still intriguing and powerful),
sounding much like tapes traded between Labradford and Brian Eno. The new
album, Trein Maersk, is not set in a barren, snow-covered locale but rather in
the busiest ports of call of the world. As such, there is much flashing lights
and hustle and bustle to Icebreaker's sound on this release--a much more human
element--bringing it out of the Artic wasteland and putting more weight on the
Eno side of their sound. While those flashing lights
can create a warm, bouncy sound that is just as enveloping as the band's
debut, they can also bring the mercury level of the music too far up, making
it so warm it seems like dance music on tracks like "Port of Singapore" or
like children's video game music like on "Port of Dubai."
While a lot of the album is warm and sprightly, the band does tone down their
sound substantially during the second half of the album when the band is
traveling through the colder-climated ports, bringing the music
back closer to the sound of Distant Early Warning. Ultimately, this
style of music is more successful for Icebreaker than the techno-pop inspired
by the warmer ports. The music can be highly repetitive, as in the epic
tracks named after the ports of Rotterdam and Halifax, creating a constant
ebb and flow of delicate guitar patterns that very slowly and gradually
change over time.
While on this musical voyage, Icebreaker's music does alter with each port of
call, but there is little addition of any sort of local flavor. As is implied
by the voice samples in the songs and the liner notes, the "global economy" has
become an Anglo/American makeover for the rest of the world, and, as such,
Icebreaker's music is more affected by the temperature and pace of
the ports and seas than any local culture or customs they encounter. More
accurately, the culture they encounter is so Americanized and sterilized, it
has no effect.
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