Red Rum Trance (1998)
Experimental music bastardizing genres of Industrial, Ambient, Tribal, Jazz, Oriental Folk, and Noise. The main instruments used are electric guitar and bass, fretless guitar and bass, classical guitar, synthesizer, acoustic and electric drums. This music is recommended for fans of literary work by:
• Rod Serling (The Twilight Zone)
• Franz Kafka (The Judgment)
• Dr. Suess* (The Cat In The Hat)
*If he were to have a psychotic breakdown
• Lewis Carrol* (Alice In Wonderland)
*If he were to have a psychotic breakdown
• C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles Of Narnia)
• Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho)
• Ambrose Bierce (Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge)
• Stephen King (The Shining) -Great to listen to with headphones while walking through dark hallways of the Overlook Hotel
Stream the full album below through the bandcamp player. Free downloads of #5 and #17 at:
mattfrantz.bandcamp.com/album/red-rum-trance
REVIEWS
Review 1: "This album's title was a bit deceiving to me at first, namely because the project name first alerts me to think of trance music, but let me tell you, this is no dance album. What you might expect instead is a feeling of fear, coupled with awe and the occasional drop into a deep mind numbing trance. Don't be afraid however, you won't regret this trip. Matt Frantz is starting to gain quite a good reputation in the underground for putting out some quality noise and experimental emotion/mood music... This is not any sort of typical release however... It is extremely engaging and intriguing... almost story like, with bizarre track titles, glimpses into the underlying story present through spooky subtitles, and a somewhat coherent listening experience focused on the mood one might achieve from dwelling upon such works of art as "Alice In Wonderland", "The Chronicles of Narnia", "Psycho", "The Shining" and a number of works by Dr. Suess. The music ranges from harsh to gentle, absolutely frightening to eerily soothing... Have no fear though, hardcore noise & experimental lovers, the styles all melt into one... what I would, overall, perhaps call simply experimental. Noise and mildly ambient textures appear often, though neither dominate. This is a very unique and interesting album and, for a limited time, they're all shipped with custom made metal covers... cool artistic total package. -Voideth Pessimicoth (a.i.musick/twitch) *NOTE: DISCS ARE NO LONGER SHIPPED WITH CUSTOM METAL COVERS
Review 2: "Frantz shows a great deal of skill as both a player and producer and his packaging is intricate and very well done. Fans of heavily experimental music would do quite well to sample his goods, but it must be said that these projects are not a casual listen. Frantz accomplishes his ends perhaps a little too well, and the end result is sometimes more than a little disturbing." -Todd Brown, (review published through TrueTunes).
THE SPOKEN WORD "SNAP" (TRANSCRIPTION OF A DREAM)
When I was a small child, I was touched by a dream. I was awake at night. The only one on the floor. I stepped into the small room and felt eyes upon me. My throat lump swelled. I turned to leave and the picture frame on the wall stopped me. Dirty, imitation gold color, fake engraved frame. A face centered in the space stared back. I stepped back. I felt weak. Her skin was pale and hard. Her hat was black. She projected a presence. I had to close my eyes. When I opened them again, she was gone. A demon took her place. Dark red skeleton draped in black. He reached his bony arm out of the wall to clutch my throat. I couldn't hear words, but I could hear thoughts. It wanted nothing but my destruction. I grabbed his wrist and twisted the arm backwards. I love the cracking sound I heard. I snapped his radius and the hand fell limp. I felt power swelling up inside of me. This is how I want to remember myself. Not a slave. A master. Not afraid. I know that no one, nothing, can truly harm me. The image shrieked and fell back into the blankness of the empty picture frame. I walked out of the room smiling. I walked out of the room and laughed. I have a fear of snakes. One day, I will get the chance to clutch one by the throat and snap it in two. The snake is symbolic. My victory will not be. The path has already been cleared for us. Our older brother made a sacrifice for us. The ones who killed him secured his and our victory. There is much to rejoice about. © 1996 M. Frantz
