Global Crash

Hello again and welcome back. This next review is about the music of an old friend of mine who goes under the moniker of Global Crash. This music is what would be categorized as "electronica". Unfortunately, I am not a fan of that term. At all. But you get what I am driving at. This man's conception is highly eclectic, encompassing a wide variety of styles ranging from trance to progressive house and breakbeat techno. It strikes me that the trance ethos pervades the whole thing, because of its overall hypnotic quality and broad rhythmic structure. Sonic events, once unfolded, will persist in the airspace for a while. Usually there will develop a matrix of sorts that will be comprised of a few of these sonic events. From that point on this grouping will be subject to myriad subtle nuances in terms of rhythmic structure, timbre, etc., that will eventually move the grouping to another place entirely, securing a type of "perpetual development", eventually arriving at a new point of departure. On and on this process persists, creating broad canvasses painted with large strokes.
The resulting picture is one of zen-like simplicity, seeming at times to revel in the sake of its own existence, existing solely for itself, quiet, introspective.
The area where Global Crash and its creator Paul Holder reside is near the ocean. I have spent alot of time living near the ocean and something about this music makes the same impression on me, one of deep, unfathomable space, uniformity of space, timelessness. There is a sense of gravitation, the feeling of looking out into the ocean late at night and seeing no clear division between land and sea, only a black, endless uniformity. Standing too long staring, one feels the pull of the tide, as though it might suck you into its void, string you out in its limitless blackness. This is the type of impression Global Crash has on me. As if I might possibly get caught up in its aural net and sucked in by its subtle, imposing gravity.
I do not want to give the impression that this music is dark or negative in any way, as there is nothing "evil" about it. The forgoing bit of exposition is simply an attempt at describing the overall effect of this musical impression. It is "quietly active", and pulses with a life all its own. One could possibly dance to this music, but it possesses such a contemplative, meditative quality that it seems better suited for those types of activities. It would translate even better live. We feel that this would be great "cool-down" music at a rave or something similiar, as its broad rhythmic conception, though supported by traditional "techno" drum sequencing, is so gradually paced that one never feels frantic or jumpy, but rather lulled.
For the sake of disclosure let me state that Paul and I went to high school together. We skateboarded and also listened to a lot of similar music. Among the shared interests musically was Skinny Puppy, Ajax, Ministry and many others. But in the foregoing list it is clearly seen that seeds were planted.
Global Crash eschews traditional musical norms. In response to my round of questions, I was given to understand that he considers himself to be more of a sound engineer than a musician, but I feel that the proof of his intuitive musicianship indicates that he is more of a "musician" than he may realize.
In my questionaire, which was posted as a seperate blog on Myspace, I inquired as to musical schooling. The answer I received was most telling, which pointed out a mentality that has confronted my very existence forever. The fact is, that as much as I am glad to be "trained" in this art, too many academic musicians ruin the experience with their snobbery. It was put to me that Paul was told that his style is not real music. As if being knowledgeable confers upon one the right to DECLARE what is valid in art. How is this not real music? It is sound organized through time, hence music.
The production is of a type I have heard referred to as "continuous mix", meaning that there is no break in the songs, no silence between tracks, so those interested in specific track divisions and the like need to pay real close attention to the track numbers. It seems to me that this relates to the type of production that occurs live, and also supports the broad rhythmic conception nicely. The primary instrumentation is keyboard/drum machine, with enough sampling and secondary instrumentation thrown in to provide variety.
Paul's long-range plans for Global Crash are to keep expanding, to continue on for as long as possible, distributing his music himself until he finds a bigger outlet. His other goals are to do soundtrack music for films, etc. He is also interested in securing a DJ gig at a club and doing live performances for fashion shows, art exhibits and the like. Anyone interested should look him up.
check him out at: www.myspace.com/globalcrashmusic , also at www.facebook.com/home.php/pages/GlobalCrash/34560838866.