C.H. District – Live At XIX Wroclaw Industrial Festival (Album – Zoharum)
Genre/Influences: Experimental, Industrial, IDM.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: Set up in 1996 by Miroslaw Matyasik, C.H. District will evoke good souvenirs to fans of labels like Tympanik Audio and M-Tronic. This album is the first one in years. It features a live performance that took place in 2020 and one bonus track.
Content: The live track at the XIX Wroclaw Industrial festival is a long duration piece featuring the main ingredients this artist has always injected in his music. Slow rhythms and harder kicks have been mixed with Industrial sound treatments while other, more sophisticated, and minimal-driven bleeps create a space-like effect. A harder kick emerges during the last part of the track.
The bonus cut has been recorded during a home studio transmission (which also is the title of the song) and reveals similar influences.
+ + + : This artist is a kind of sound alchemist, manipulating analogue sounds with effects and rhythms to create a sophisticated -although bit chaotic, production. I especially like the Industrial sound treatments, which have something heavier and darker. Both tracks are moving towards a crescendo with heavy sound blasts and -kicks.
– – – : C.H. District has never been the most accessible project. It has something Experimental and chaotic, but it also is a suitable alternative to play at Industrial festivals.
Conclusion: I don’t know if many people were awaiting a new album by C.H. District, but I’m sure lovers of creative and more minimal sound experiences will be pleased.
Best songs: “Home Studio Transmission (Bonus Track)”.
Rate: 7½.
Listen to “Live at XIX Wrocław Industrial Festival”:
Artist: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063736443487
Label: www.zoharum.com / www.facebook.com/zoharum
About C.H. District
C.H. District is the one-man project of Polish musician Mirosław Matyasik, who began working under the name in 1996 and connects the industrial tradition with intelligent electronic production. Alongside the project he has written music for the Silesian theatre groups Cogitatur, Apart and Suka Off, and has also appeared on stage with them.
The first albums, “Pneuma-Ti-Coi” and “Continuance”, came out on Differentiate Production in 2001 and 2002, with the live disc “Zan[zib]ar: Live Action” in between. Matyasik signed to the French label M-Tronic in 2002, which released “Chemical Elements 1.0” in 2003 and “Slides” in 2005. “Sounds From Mé-Mento 0.1” followed on Mizantrophy Label in 2004, “Conclusion” in 2010 and a combined reissue of the first two albums in 2013.
Zoharum released “Live at XIX Wrocław Industrial Festival” on CD on 7 November 2021. The disc pairs the festival set with the bonus track “Home Studio Transmission”, was mastered by Tomtylor and carries artwork by Dogma Noir.
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