the same girl: spare parts & the ideology toolkit

(…) Colonies of android insects and acid rain falling from metallic skies alternate with treated field recordings made by the duo in Russia and Croatia; drum eruptions a la Carl Palmer are overwhelmed by disturbing chattering and visions of extinct animals whose ashes remain stuck on our skin. In some instances, distant rumbles calm the overall pace of the album, just to be replaced after a few seconds by a cross of Edgar Varese-like percussive outbursts and cheap imitations of a nuclear-powered shuttle whose launch has been delayed because the astronauts aboard were eating popcorn instead of following the countdown. We detect a keen sense of humour even in the most dramatic sections, and that's a sure sign of intelligence; these manipulators of reality have their own unique vision which is a pleasure to share.
Massimo Ricci in Touching Extremes (Italy)

(...) Improvisierte Musik für Computer und Getrommel, die aus dem Gegensatz zwischen Chip und Herz Energie schöpft und zwischen die Improvisationen kryptische fieldrecordings streut. (...) Großer Tip.
Karsten Zimalla in Westzeit (Germany)

In case you're expecting a rock group - there are after all plenty of girls out there, from Taxi Girl to Airport Girl to Chopper Girl to Gangsta Girl, not forgetting Bikini Girl, Apache Girl, Gutter Girl (I kid you not) and of course Everything But The Girl - fear not: The Same Girl is an improv duo consisting of Berlin-based laptopper Gilles Aubry and percussionist Nicholas Field, currently resident in Geneva. The two blokes apparently met up ten years ago when they were trying to pick up the same girl, the Schraum press release helpfully informs us. We don't know, however, if either of them succeeded, though if the young lady in question wasn't a diehard improvised music freak, I doubt Aubry and Field could have wooed her with a selection of their own greatest hits.(though if it's any consolation I was pretty seduced by the last Field outing that came my way, the duo with Jaime Fennelly, Le Doigt de Galilee, one of Locust Music's Object series). The seven improvised "Spare Parts" tracks are as tough and dry as the album title. For the most part they're impressively tight, gritty workouts - hats off to Aubry for being particularly responsive - and it's just as well they're interleaved with the relative light relief of the "Ideology Toolkit", a set of four field recordings (it says here, though "Recours à la peur" seems to be a field recording of the duo in action.. go figure). Choice cut: the ominous low end groan of "Tombstone Zigzag". No wonder the final track "Dress Rehearsal" is (almost) completely silent.. I hope they kept the young lady's address and sent her a copy of this for Valentine's Day. Now that's what I call romantic.
Dan Warburton in Paris Transatlantic (France)

Ein weiteres Duo, das am Reißverschluss zwischen Elektro und Akustik, Automatik und Improvisation herum zerrt. Der Londoner Perkussionist Nicolas Field (…) flattert über sein Drumset wie ein Vogel, der sich in ein Zimmer verflogen hat und panisch nach einem Ausweg zickzackt oder wie Ratten, die zwischen Metallschrott und Kartons herum stöbern. Gilles Aubry zieht den Rauschpegel hoch, ohne zu ‚Schmieren', sein Noise wirkt molekular, körnig, wie Sprühregen oder Wischer mit Sandpapier. Das klingt oft wie handgemacht, als ob er nicht mit Computer, sondern mit Kontaktmikrophonen oder Sandstrahlgebläse ebenfalls perkussiv und 1:1 an der ‚Silicon Sonata', dem ‚Tombstone Zigzag' oder dem brausenden Rücksturz in die Erdatmosphäre von ‚Leica, we're loosing speed...' mitrappeln, -klopfen und -furzeln würde.
Rigobert Dittmann in Bad Alchemy (Germany)

(…) "Spare Parts & The Ideology Toolkit" è composto da improvvisazioni di computer e percussioni con l'aggiunta di una serie di estratti da field recordings raccolti in giro tra Russia e Croazia che hanno avuto il pregio di riuscire al meglio a fare da coagulante tra le varie tracce. Il suono che ne esce è graffiante ed ostico ma tutt'altro che indigeribile: il computer è filtrato attraverso gli amplificatori per basso e chitarra e ciò spiega il perché questo disco ricordi a pelle le produzioni free jazz più oltranziste. Sono infatti improvvisazioni fisiche e libere ma mai fine a se stesse. Per intenderci, sono una versione meno avanguardista e più free dei Furt: chi ha apprezzato le scorribande di questa band sappia che qui troverà pane per i propri denti, se non addirittura di meglio. Ottimo.
Alfredo Rastelli in Sands-Zine (Italy)

(…) While being more disjointed and sparse than the "Swiftmachine" sessions, i.e. more typically "improv", their performance features the same physical intensity. I still wonder if Aubry samples and filters what his mate is playing, as what we hear is often a sort of throbbing noise pulp, sounding like a digital chewing of acoustic inputs. Aubry surely works with field recordings and looped music samples as well, adding odd counterparts to Field's frantic drumming. Quite an intense record throughout, one that I'd surely recommend to those into labels like Creative Sources and Charizma.
Eugenio Maggi in Chain D.L.K. (Italy)

(…) The two play quite energetic music, which works well. Intense playing in sometimes a traditional way (certainly when it concerns the percussion), but throughout it's a menacing, uneasy affair that is demanding a lot of the listener. One to play loud so that one can take it all in much easier. But rest assured: you will leave breathless but satisfied.
Frans de Waard in Vital Weekly (Netherlands)

It's a cute story, that Gilles Aubry and Nicholas Field met as they inadvertently made moves on the same woman, the circumstances of their meeting serving as the inspiration for the name of the duo they would later form. Girls are often blamed for the breakups of bands, but whether either of Aubry or Field were successful in their wooing that night, their romantic endeavors certainly sparked a relationship of a rather different nature. (…) The challenge of bringing together the computer and percussion is one of equalizing their output, not simply in a sense of volume, but also the quality and character of sound. His particular use of amplification offers Aubry's output a physical presence that is more textural than that of a conveniently amplified computer, an important component of the way The Same Girl operate. Field's percussion, even when at a busy clatter, never overpowers Aubry's computer, and there's an impressive synergy to their sound. The duo is consistently responsive, and while the constraints of the more ready-made components of Aubry's instrumentation may not allow for a wholly free-flowing conversation, there is a clear sense of interplay within the music. It's tempting to paint The Same Girl as an organic/inorganic combo, but to focus on the dichotomy of the duo's instrumentation is to put the spotlight on a separation that remains only a small part of Spare Parts and the Ideology Toolkit's appeal. Aubry and Field don't pit their instruments against each other; instead they strive for a more harmonious interaction. Aubry, especially, uses a diverse selection of sounds, but it's impressive how well he and Field can find complimentary territory, and how fluidly the two, given their instrumentation, are able to play off of one another. It's amusing to think that this project spawned from the intersection of concurrent seduction attempts, since though neither Aubry and Field may have gotten the girl, they each met someone special that night, and the subsequent relationship has likely been more fruitful than any they might have entered with said female.
Adam Strohm in Fakejazz (USA)

Berliner Gilles Aubry and Geneva resident Nicolas Field push their blistering computer and percussion explorations to raucous extremes on the same girl's Spare Parts & The Ideology Toolkit. Coaxing a huge range of electro-acoustic noise from their respective gear throughout the fifty-minute recording, the simpatico pair alternates real-time improvisations ("Spare Parts") with field recordings ("The Ideology Toolkit") made in Russia and Croatia. (…) Aubry and Field manufacture some incredible contrasts. Whereas the harrowingly intense ""Leica, we're loosing speed…"" merges a Merzbow-esque choking seizure (Aubry) with the scattershot ferocity of free jazz playing (Field), "tombstone zigzag" simulates a nightmarish crawl. The surprises continue until the end with the closer "dress rehearsal" four minutes of… silence, followed by twenty seconds of field-recorded conversation. Ultimately, one admires the musicians' energy and the fearlessness of their spontaneous approach, even if the recording generally amounts to uneasy listening.
Ron Shepper in textura (Canada)

(…) Drummer/improviser Nicolas Field and computer musician Gilles Aubry deliver a rough output. Each sound demands it's place in the center of the sound spectrum, giving the music a hectic touch, especially in the track Leika, we're loosing speed... which sounds like a minutes-long crash of a rocket returning to earth through the hemisphere. But even much calmer tracks sound like chaotic improv sessions in which a certain structure fails and if a complete orchestra plays independent from the other members. Fortunately, this album features also a few shorter tracks in between the improvisations, which can be categorized as concrete ambient recordings, giving the listener at least some air to breath.
Paul Bijlsma in Phosphor Magazine (Germany)

(…) This whole CD is an innovation. With all innovations, the next questions are "who is going to use it, and how are they going to use it?" I'm thinking that this is a CD for musicians and cool cats to sit around and dissect for its accents and shades. This is to be enjoyed for its aesthetics.
Neo-Zine (USA)

The irrelevance of connotations emerges as the interactive possibilities are explored. Their search for a suitable arena - where the conversation between acoustic percussion and electronics is viable- stems from a reflection on the disparity between the apparent incompatibilities and the development of suitable perspectives, no matter the origin. They present us with a reflection on listening, shared spaces, improvisation and simplicity. The slowly matured approach to the materials allows a complicity in the listening which becomes manifest both in real time interaction and field recordings.
Modisti (Spain)