Sweeter As The Years Roll
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“”Sweeter as the years roll by” is a phrase which many will associate with wine. The music of the 21st century has during these last eight years turned out to be the proverbial “old wine in new skins” which is small wonder, since remixing, cut’n’paste or whatever name one wants to bestow on these ancient methods of producing new culture by using the old, have become available to almost everyone. The “digital revolution” of the last two decades has also made these processes easier than ever before almost everybody can apply them. One side effect of this welcome development has been a glut of uninspired and often blatant recycling products.
On first hearing the music of Heaven And, one could easily dismiss it as belonging in exactly that category. Elements of the diverse musical styles from the last five decades are clearly discernible. Listening to the first track “as if a star”, one can make out a vast range of influences: A psychedelic backwards guitar cuts through the whir of a cymbal reminiscent of jazz and trance music, while in the second half, a layer of guitar sounds hovers over it which reminds one of the sounds emanating from the Fender amps of the bands belonging to the so-called” Americana”-movement. At the same time, the track comes across as an update of those stoic monster tracks of early seventies krautrock. (And when it comes to minimalism, the bass line on “as if a star” beats any of Holger Czukay s in terms of sparseness.) The third track “bring back those happy days” with its manic, almost exploding guitar and its rompish, hippie-like percussion orgy is quite another cup of tea. “Art Ensemble Of Chicago meets Keiji Haino”? Or” Pharoah Sanders meets Sonny Sharrock meets Boredoms”? In the course of the album’s duration, Heaven And take their listeners on an unsettling roller coaster ride of styles. Sometimes, elements of the blues stick out, while at other times, elements of heavy metal, post rock, avantgarde, free jazz or noise are up front, so that the listener keeps wondering what (in heaven’s name) it is s/he’s hearing(…)”
