wolves hollow press

‘With the winter solstice came the need for a double supply of cow brains to keep the Wolfernian species going’. At least, that’s what the sleeve notes reveal. I’d wondered what those alien wolves were bringing back to their flying saucer on the front cover. Fuel for their super computer, apparently…Obvious really, when you think about it. Anyway, cow brains aside, this is my favourite electronic album of the year so far and, believe me, I’ve heard a few good ones. There’s enough going on in these densely textured tracks to make the listener only too aware of the fact that a great deal of other music is desperately oversimplified and one dimensional. Sadly, it’s often the case that complex, intelligent electronica can be found somewhat lacking in genuine human feeling, trading technical sophistication for recognisable melodies. That doesn’t apply here. Lush layers of sound are skillfully manipulated to create alien, yet overwhelmingly emotional, swathes of sound. I can’t recommend this album enough. It is essential listening and certain to please all those in tune with the future.

- Tony Cooper 10/10

VICE (April 2000) The Wolves Hollow is the upcoming album from the prolific Marumari on New York’s Carpark, and it’s damn impossible to find a single fault with this work; audio snapshots of a mind comfortable with working in a variety of styles, from his takes on techno, IDM, and ambient, all with a nod to the song format.

- andrew duke

de-bug (april 2000) Carpark aus New York entwickelt sich zum Killerlabel. Marumari sei Dank. Sein zweite Album beginnt mit einem dieser Tracks, zu denen Dave Gahan von Depeche Mode nur singen müsste, damit Marumari mehr Platten verkauft als DM jemals verkauft haben, so gigantisch klingt das. Aber natürlich ist der Dave wieder nur am Drogen nehmen und so wird es dazu nicht kommen und die Spitze des Ruhms bleibt MTV-Amerika, die Muramari inzwischen für Werbejingles einsetzen. Aber weiter. Fett gephaserte Disco E-Pianos treffen auf Rhythmen der Familie Maus beim Marsausflug, Glockenspiele von unterm Weihnachtsbaum kämpfen aufopferungsvoll gegen übersteuerte Monophonie und Detroiter Sonnenuntergänge gehen mit gefilterter 8-Bit Romantik einen trinken. Knuspert und rockt. Verdammt, ist das gross hier. Platte des Monats, eindeutig.

-thaddi *****

Micro Circuitry: Big Sounds From Small Spaces (sonic net – may 2000)

    Somewhere between the digital dissonance of recent Aphex Twin and the lo-fi ambient-pop beats of San Francisco microlabel Darla Records lies New York's Marumari, an artist obsessed with machine overloads and lullabies who's trying his darnedest to squeeze both into the same sonic space. The creation of twentysomething audio and video programmer Josh Presseisen, Marumari is a testament to the blossoming of beautiful, claustrophobic electronic music emanating from bedroom studios around the world.

    But The Wolves Hollow, Marumari's second full-length LP in less than six months(!), is proof that this music isn't just for fringe geeks and IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) insiders. Like Console's recent Rocket in the Pocket, with which it shares a certain grimy aesthetic, Hollow is as much a progressive pop album as it is an invention of musical modernism.

    Thematically united by a "White Fang"-meets-Tarzan-meets-"War of the Worlds" tale, as told in the CD booklet, Hollow's compositions are extensions of an imagination raised on childhood fables, sci-fi images and a lifetime of computer-generated influences, from "Star Wars" special effects to Yaz. At their most exquisitely accessible, these are atmospheric remixes of pop tunes heard in dreams.    

    "Searching for the Sasha Wolf" is like a bedroom-beats reorganization of Bowie's "It's No Game" as played by the Thompson Twins; "Crescent Moon Blues" is a space-age white-funk stride powered by cross-fading Casios and dubbed-out radio transmissions; and after its escape from a drum-pad twilight zone, the magnificent 86 seconds of "Carnivorous Temptations Part 1" morphs into a melodic masterpiece under the auspices of a startling three-note loop.

    Obviously, this doesn't add up to pop as Abba fans (or even White Town fans) hear it, but Marumari and his ilk are brightening fringes that've been known to scare the casual music listener back into the top 40.

- Peter Orlov

Alternative Press (June 2000) Poor Aphex Twin has often been lambasted for his penchant for puerile recordings, but Providence, RI's Marumari, closer in spirit to Nobukazu Takemura, successfully channels childish thrills into absolutely gripping electronic listening. The Wolves Hollow picks up where Ballad of the Round Ball left off, bouncing sparkling, percussive jacks off ballooning melodies. Boards of Canada serve as another reference, for the air of wide-eyed discovery that permeates Marumari's sunny-day romps. Sonic expansiveness is a priority here; Marumari delights in throwing wide the gates of programmed propriety to let in all manner of throbbing, radiant sounds. But it's not at all just analog play; The Wolves Hollow also demonstrates an impressive degree of sensitivity and structural attention. With this just their fourth release, it seems a good idea to pay attention to New York's Carpark Records, as well. – 5

- philip sherburne

Time Out (June 29-July 6^th, 2000) – To some, it might look like electronic music is all about varied styles of beats. But there are real brains at work here, too – such as the prolific 24-year-old Josh Presseisen (a.k.a. Marumari). For his third release, Presseisen has invented a mythology about a war between earth wolves and alien wolves; thankfully, the earth wolves win and pass on their "Wolfernian" music to Presseisen. None of that would matter much if this record weren’t such a sparkling mixture of poppy electronics and fluid tempos. Ten years ago, someone like Presseisen would probably have been tinkering away with a guitar and a four-track, but his careful attention to melody and detail is much better suited to this technology. Although he probably put most of this together in his bedroom, the colorful compositions are arranged impeccably, and the strange narrative holds together well through a procession of funky house and inviting techno beats. This is a record more for home listening than anything else.

- Mike Wolf

all music guide - 8 out of 10
On a sonic level, The Wolves Hollow is not significantly different from
Ballad of the Roundball. The recording retains most of the attributes of
its predecessor, from the mechanically lush underpinning of
crisscrossing beats to the cryptic and open-ended but undeniably lovely
melodies that float ghost-like above the fray. On the other hand,
Marumari pushes forward into new universes here, while at the same time
shedding one of Ballad’s overriding traits. To deal with the latter
first, much of the human coloring has been extracted from Josh
Presseisen’s musical palette. He primarily makes use of the colder, more
processed elements of his vision. Even the voice that gasps out from the
musical panorama of "Searching for the Sasha Wolf" sounds as if it is
visiting from interstellar vistas. But this shift gives him a chance to
incorporate elements of lazy hip-hop and agitated electro-rock into his
already strong ambient mix. And it is hardly a miscalculation to so
drain the human element, as the album’s premise is concerned with
decidedly unearthly and inhuman themes. In fact, it is designed as a
concept album of sorts, with the song titles acting as guideposts
through the narrative, a fantasy (with bizarre premise provided by
mother Wendy) in which Marumari has the sole hominid role. What exactly
that story is, however, is less clear. It is an eldritch patchwork, part
hippie communal fable, part Indian animal myth, a computer-savvy Tarzan
crossed with War of the Worlds. Presumably the album’s earth is peopled
by a race of Earth Wolves that survive by feeding cow brains to a
supercomputer. Eventually this race is invaded by Alien Wolves from
outerspace after chance contact is made by young Josh. The Alien Wolves
are defeated and pass their music to the boy, who becomes, in essence,
its decoder and orchestrator. Regardless of the specific narrative
details, though, and even had this "Wolferian Symphony" lacked any
outward indicators, it would still play like a strange, otherworldly
epic. Though it has a dark insularity at times, it is also sweeping,
transporting us across a broad, winter-hued, post-apocalyptic landscape;
if we give it the chance, over our own imaginative expanses as well.
-stanton swihart

The Wire (June 2000) - This CD from an up and coming NYC indie electronica label is strongly reminiscent of early 90s ambient house offerings like Trans-4m's "sublunar oracles". Each track plays off the last to unfold some kind of CD length narrative, weaving combinations of hard-edged electronics with funky laid back house rhythms and beats. It errs on the side of nostalgic comfort music, but there are worse things than that, especially since it always manages to avoid getting too saccharine. However, it's best to ignore the sleevenotes which spells out a narrative so bad, it makes the CD almost unlistenable. 

- BEN BORTHWICK

XLR8R (#43) – With this second release from Marumari’s Josh Presseisen, the young Carpark label finds itself among the top of small American imprints for consistent quality. The Wolves Hollow takes the label into a more visual musical space than previous releases by Kid606 and Jake Mandell, with an emphasis on recontextualizing familiar imagery for the ear. It’s easy to hear 80s melodic pop throughout "Searching for the Sasha Wolf" or "Crescent Moon Blues." But Presseisen pushes beyond the scent of Air Supply mixed with Orb to craft relaxing radio-friendly tunes for the first half of the album. After that, Marumari ventures back into the realm of more stereotypical IDM melody tracks which while well-executed remain a bit flat. On the whole another fine feather in Carpark’s cap.

- Heath Hignight

octopus (#12) – Le troisieme album de marumari rehitere la recette ultra-melodique de <ballad of the round ball>, son predecesseur; alliant une narration musicale naïve a l’exces et des audaces de productions brillament decallees. La musique de ce trio americain, don’t un des morceaux de pop perverse a recemment ete utilise comme jingle sur MTV, est reminiscente des sonorites sans complexe des annees 80. Le second morceau de cet album rappelle le fantastique <stereomission> de mouse on mars, avec qui marumari rivalise de genie. La quintessence de <the wolves hollow> tient aux interludes; petites histoires naives d’a peu pres 90 secondes que beaucoup delaieraient en morceaux de cinq minutes, mais marumari prefere preserver cette fragilite et cette minutie qui fait de sa musique un univers a part entiere. Si oui-oui ecoute de la musique sur l’autoradio de sa voiture, c’est sans doute ce disque.

- christophe taupin

www.informativos.net (may 2000) - Cuando hablábamos de Carpark Records en esta misma web, elogiábamos sin freno el "Ballad Of The Round Bell" de MARUMARI y anunciábamos la publicación por la vía urgente de un nuevo disco. De eso no ha pasado mucho tiempo y ya tenemos aquí "The Wolves Hollow", y por el camino la música de MARUMARI ha convencido a propios y extraños: la MTV elige su música para un espacio de autopromoción y parece ser que Stereolab han colaborado con ellos en alguna grabación, que puede encontrarse por algún sitio perdido de la red de redes. Al igual que su antecesor, "The Wolves Hollow" resulta un disco magnífico. Música electrónica imaginativa, lúdica, lúcida, vanguardista y amena. Comparten espacio y talento con Mouse On Mars, aunque los americanos aparcan su faceta más pop en pos de unos discos más conceptuales, pero exquisitos de principio a fin. Ante la decepcionante labor de supuestas estrellas de la electrónica de fin de siglo, MARUMARI ofrecen una dosis ejemplar de digitalismo rítmico y trabajador, de sonidos puros y de estructuras nada obvias pero adictivas. Música electrónica comprometida con el presente-futuro, rigurosa en planteamientos y soluciones, cercana a otros creadores de Centroeuropa. No es música de baile, pero movilizará tu cerebro. Un lujo al alcance de tus neuronas.

- jesus castillo

Other music - While Marumari's debut album seemed, to me at least, to be (yet) another Boards of Canada exercise, this one is much more original. His new tracks rock gently, hang on a sweeter, funkier beat, child chatter and funny scrabbling insecty scratching, presided over by high-pitched, resonant synth tones. In a way, he's edging towards Nobukazu Takemura territory, only staying upbeat, not succumbing to chill. A few tracks even have a weird technopop vibe to them, as if he took old Howard Jones songs and butchered them into rhythm, removing the lyrics and melodies. Even though he builds the album around mythical wolf themes, more of it sounds recorded underwater than in the forest. Pretty, fun and novel, it nonetheless lags at the end, but the first half of the disc more than makes up for it. My favorite thing on Carpark yet.

- robin edgerton

Planet of Sound (june 2000) - Chaque pays a ses légendes, ses contes, ses monstres, ou autres créatures de la nuit qui effraient grands et petits... En France il semblerait que notre "monstre national" soit le loup... le grand méchant loup... qui erre dans les bois... qui va te manger... Pour ma part j'ai toujours trouvé l'animal majestueux et superbe, sauvage mais attachant, carnassier mais attirant. Il semblerait que cela soit aussi le cas de Josh Pressenssein, jeune graphiste multimédia new-yorkais qui se cache derrière le pseudo Marumari. Mais lui, tel David Vincent il a rencontré la civilisation "Wolfernienne" et que cette dernière, avant de disparaître, lui a transmis son héritage musical : the Wolferian Symphony.  Ce troisième album est une oeuvre majeure de la musique electronica-pop moderne, un peu dans l'esprit des premiers Mouse On Mars mais en plus enrobé, plus plein. Les mélodies coulent, tournoient et virevoltent avant que de faire mouche. Ce disque est une collection de tubes, d'ambiences merveilleuses. Rarement machine n'a sonné si humaine... Animale et quel plaisir que de se laisser dévorer. Miam, j'en reprendrai bien une bouchée...

- philippe petit

grooves - At first listen The Wolves Hollow, the second disc from Marumari in less than a year, is confusing. Strange, charmingly cheesy cover art and an inscrutable concept-- alien wolf and earth wolf in an interstellar canine showdown—complement music dense with melodies and texture. Given a few listens, The Wolves Hollow suddenly resolves itself into art. Marumari has constructed an album full of the tight programming and sounds that also enlivened his debut and grafted on a tendency for experimental wandering in the sonic realm as well as with a half-comic narrative. Marumari now seems poised to be the American electronic scene’s Pink Floyd: taking frequently overly serious music off into involving, utterly fictional, oddly resonant realms of imagination and sound. This time his sonic palette extends into artificial howls, submarine glitch-hop ("Birth of the Cub Cyborg") or processed guitar hooks (the much-too-short "Carnivorous Temptations Part 1").

-Rob Geary

Pitchforkmedia.com
Rating: 8.0

Ever wonder what would happen if alien wolves came down from space and started harvesting cow brains as fuel for their Wolfernian supercomputer? And if these alien wolves went to battle with our Earth wolves, who would win? Very good questions, certainly-- ones all of us have asked ourselves at one time or another. Fortunately, there are now definitive answers to these venerable riddles on, of all places, the back of Marumari's third full-length, The Wolves' Hollow.

The album's cover depicts an evil alien wolf hoarding bovine gray matter (pink, actually) near a field of grazing cattle. In the distance, more spacewolves run from the green pasture toward their ship, which beams sonic waves to the heavens. In the liner notes, an Earth wolf pleads: "Are we not brothers... created by the same god?" while an extraterrestrial craft hovers above. Absurd!

The record opens with whistling samples distorted and decelerated to sound like howling wolves. After these few seconds of forested mood-setting, vocal clips establish a warm, dreamy melody as shuffling, muted percussion fades in. Gradually, crisper drum samples rise to the surface while thick low-end beats bubble underneath. Unidentifiable effects orbit the melodic framework. Flanged buzzes jet from right channel to left. But for electronic music, this sound is strangely organic.

Though Marumari's closest brethren may be the Boards of Canada, The Wolves' Hollow also borrows liberally from IDM, especially in its sometimes clicky rhythms and vaguely human textures. However, the noodly knob-twisting is tempered by understated musical backdrops which introduce a subtle pop accessibility. The record also lacks the arty pretension inherent in much of the IDM scene, settling instead for a charming naivete that could only come from a young upstate New York computer guy.

Oh, I didn't tell you? Yeah, Marumari, despite his distinctly foreign-sounding moniker, is actually just 23 year-old Josh Presseisen, a seemingly down-to-earth computer freak who spends much of his time rendering 3-D graphics. So, is it really possible for a guy like Presseisen to bend genres into new forms with the ease of clotheshanger wire, sans pompous ego? I mean, where's the tight, German-imported sweater? The leather jacket? The shaved head? Shouldn't he at least look the part if he's going to be innovative? Perhaps not. It adds to the charm.

As the album progresses, it becomes clear how the wolfen chronicles, however ridiculous, tie into the record's sound. The harsher, noisier sounds promote a sinister high-science atmosphere; the softer, warmer elements represent life. Not just human life or wolf life, but plant life. Forest life. Lay down in the dewed, grassy drone. Climb the synth tree. Stare up at the beeping, twinkling stars. Harvest the mushy cow brain tones. Feed the Wolfernian supercomputer...

-ryan schreiber

www.brainwashed.com

According to a couple paragraphs' worth fcof nonsense in the liner notes,

"The Wolves' Hollow" is some kind of concept album involving wolves from

outer space. I honestly couldn't see the connection with the wolves, except

for samples of wolves howling, snarling, or squealing every now and then.

It's a strange listen. All the beats are mutated beyond description into

clicks, snicks, slurps, and a very familiar boing that I suspect was plucked

from the old Nintendo game Metroid (another featured element in the liner

notes). Beautiful melodies weave in out of nowhere and leave just as

suddenly -- just as Marumari gets a groove going, it fades out, comes back,

reverses itself, speeds up, disappears entirely into the layers of background noise.

Towards the end of the album the rough-and-tumble, loping

beats fade into hums and drones, strange mumbles and burbles. I don't mean

for it to sound like I'm describing Mouse on Mars, though the same feeling

is there at times; there are more straight-ahead rock-on moments and less

goofy-fun analog twiddling, on the whole.

Sometimes electronic music is so unintelligible or inhuman that even

speculating about its motivation is pointless. Despite this album's tendency

to wander in strange directions and sometimes get flat-out weird, I never

lost the feeling that someone was behind it all, happily (if inexpertly)

pushing buttons and twirling knobs. Confusing, maybe, but Marumari brings a

brand of playfulness to his music I've yet to come across anywhere else.

He's not cheeky or smart-assed like µ-Ziq or Aphex Twin, or gleefully

juvenile and iconoclastic like Kid606 or V/VM. Instead, it's the wide-eyed,

naive, incomprehensible joy of (I suppose) alien cyborg puppies.

- Alex Krieger

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