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EBSK, a duo consisting of Eric Bruns (Clarinet, Bass
Guitar) and John Rickman (Casio SK-1s, Casio SK-5s),
are based in Washington D.C. and have been bridging
the indie-rock underground and the electronic
listening crowd with their live shows up and down the
east coast. Combining structured melody with a touch
of sonic improvisation, the EBSK sound merges the
aesthetics of ambient music with the potency of
psychedelic free-rock.
After leaving the dramatic, somber-pop quartet Laconic
Chamber (Camera Obscura), Eric Bruns joined forces
with Casio SK afficionado and ex-Eggs (TeenBeat)
drummer John Rickman to create an altogether new
sound. Using only primitive sampling keyboards, bass
guitar, and clarinet, the duo's live act balances
on-the-spot looping, sampling, and sequence
programming, summoning forth mesmerizing melodies that
jump back and forth between imaginary soundtracks and
techno-inspired pop music.
Their 3"cd single "Secreet Highways / Wobbly" --
released on the U.S. indie label Scarcelight --
received positive reviews in both Grooves and The
Wire, with Byron Coley describing it in the pages of
the latter as "a very goddam original take on contempo
basement prog (or some such thing)."
For more information on EBSK, please contact:
jahhoo(at)yahooo.com
R e v i e w s
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The Wire .Issue #244 .June 2004 .
EBSK are an improvising duo from Washington DC, with a
new release, "Secret Highways/Wobbly" (Scarcelight
SLR15), a very goddam original take on contempo
basement prog (or some such thing). The
instrumentation is Casios, drums, bass guitar, and B
flat clarinet. If this suggests some kind of Milo Fine
or Flaherty/Colbourne action, the direction that they
head in is pretty original. Without the help of beats,
they manage to create a newish sounding electronic
environment, inside of which events happen which
eventually coalesce into something that walks, looks
and quacks a whole lot like rock. The crudity of the
electronics and the sparseness of certain elements
brings to mind such small units as Young Marble Giants
or even The Method Actors, but the sounds are of such
aesthetics placed inside a strange post-Rock In
Opposition Prog continuum, then manhandled by picnic
apes. Which is pretty cool, no matter how hard you
shake it.
-- Byron Coley
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Vital .Issue #410 .
EBSK is the Washington DC area duo of Eric Bruns and
John Rickman and this is their second release, and a
giant step ahead of their debut offering. Here they
dish up 2 tracks of music made with bass guitar,
clarinet, the old Casio SK-1 & SK-5 samplers and
drums. The sound brings to mind the 80s hometaper
heydays, no part due to the instrumentation and the
lofi analog sound of the casio samplers. The bass
provides the riffs, the casios crank out the crunch
and the melody, and the drums propel the tracks along
resulting in something akin to lofi krautrock. The
tracks feature several transitions and never lose
focus, something which was a problem with the duo's
first release. The sound has matured and gotten edgier
which is a positive development.
-- Jeff Surak
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Grooves .Issue #14 .
The Scarcelight imprint was initially launched in 2001
by Chris Jeely of Accelera Deck as a home for his own
releases, but that mandate has expanded in the last
year or so as Jeely has invited artists and friends
from around the world to release work on the label.
While the formats of these releases have varied from
ultra-limited CDRs in photocopied packaging to pressed
CDs in full-color sleeves, Jeely’s curation has given
the label a sense of continuity and consistency, even
despite the disparate styles that have been
represented in the catalog so far.
Less trying on the ol’ eardrums is the release by
Washington duo EBSK, a name presumably derived from
the initials of Eric Burns, who plays bass guitar and
clarinet, and the Casio SK-1 and SK-5 that are
manipulated by John Rickman. Over the course of the
two titular tracks on this 15 minute CD3”, the pair
throws together bits of post-rock, krautrock, dub, and
lo-fi ambience into a chilled-out stew of sound. The
generally relaxed and organic vibe of this EP sits in
stark contrast to [ other releases on the Scarcelight
imprint ].
-- Greg Clow
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stylusmagazine.com .Rubber Room Volume 4 .
In contrast to the ear-splitting experimentalism of
other Scarcelight releases, this fifteen-minute
3-incher from Washington’s EBSK (the name derived from
bassist Eric Bruns’ initials and the Casio SK1 and SK5
utilized by drummer John Rickman) showcases the
label’s more accessible side.
As the aggressive mix of charging bass and drum
clatter in “Wobbly” illustrates, EBSK’s sound inhabits
an inspired interzone where lo-fi electronica, kraut-,
prog- and post-rock intersect. Opening with a
grinding, snorting machine shuffle, “Secret Highways”
is even better, its spiky bass lines propelling it
into crunching Crimsonesque territory before a bright
theme breaks through the smears and static to leaven
the mood.
-- Ron Schepper
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aversionline.com .January 06, 2005 .
I think this is the first time I've ever heard EBSK,
despite having seen the name around for awhile. The
two tracks offered up herein were created using bass
guitar, clarinet, Casio SK-1's and SK-5's, and drums,
and the compositions definitely reflect that with
structures that are loosely musical as well as
tangibly experimental.
"Secret Highways" opens and despite some elements that
aren't my thing, I definitely like the fluid basslines
and simplistic drumbeats, and some of the Casio stuff
actually works well to add strange little melodies to
the mix. The ending abstract passage where drums and
bass drop out is excellent, too. "Wobbly" follows with
programmed drums underneath more well defined bass
runs, this time slightly more subdued and melodic,
which creates a chilled out atmosphere that I enjoy
(even though the aggression level does pick up on the
bass attack at times). This a more moving piece for
me, with lots of creative effects and sonic textures
that work together despite their rather
improvisational nature (of sorts).
The CD-R is housed in a black and white and blue cover
that looks pretty nice. It's minimal in both art and
text content, but it definitely looks presentable.
When all is said and done this is a strong release,
but one that leaves me with the impression that
there's untapped potential here. I'd like to hear more
work from the duo before really making the call on
that, though. At a mere 15 minutes this is a good
introduction, but I think "Wobbly" is the clear winner
amongst the two tunes.
-- Andrew Aversionline
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Cracked Zine .January, 2005 .
A little wonderbox of musical gems. Eric Bruns and
John Rickman take their restricted inventory of
instruments and try to go as far as possible within a
limited time range. The restrictions work well and
result in two amazing structured pieces of
improvisation. If that is a contradiction to you, then
that is your problem. Maybe listening to this little
record will help you out of your misery.
In the meantime the duo will expand on their trip
through styles and crossing notions, playfully but
with a serious intention (that I haven’t figured
out yet, but I can feel it is there). If you want to
know what the abbreviation EBSK stands for, you gotta
figure that one out yourself, because I have more
important things to do. Like rummaging through piles
of music and music related items that grow around my
stereo and on my desk and figuring out what to do
with them.
Listening to music takes a lot of time. Looking at a
painting takes about a millisecond, and with books you
can always pretend that you have read it, but music
you have to listen to. Some music demands to be
listened to, even if it takes me quite some time to
get around to it. Now don’t call the whistles on me by
shouting out that a) this record is only 15 minutes
and b) it has been released towards the end of 2003,
because that has got nothing to do with what is going
down. Jeez, some times time takes time and it always
takes things time to take themselves to me. That is
the truth, Bruce. So there.
Eric Bruns and John Rickman make up the improvisation
duo EBSK, one of the more original and unique set offs
to do so, by using bass and clarinet (Bruns) and drums
and Casio SK1s, SK5s (Rickman). Apart from their own
self-releases as SK Disque demonstrations and being
part of the “begin live transmission” solidarity
compilation on Dischord Records (well, they are from
Washington DC, go figure) this is their latest
release. The instrumentation would hint at a certain
direction, but that is very misleading.
Within these two tracks Bruns and Rickman take the
long and winding road without losing sense of where
they are headed right through all kinds of styles
and genres. Yes, it is jazz in a way, but it is also
krautrock and noise and some kind of digital terrorism
as well as a nice ambient soundscape thing, but let’s
take it one by one. Both tracks start off with some
sort of rhythm figure. “Secret Highways” has distorted
noise-bass-line doing an industrial backbeat, that
gets more and more distorted and subdued with time,
slowly adding bass and more industrial noises. I am
waiting for the screaming vocals to kick in, but no
such thing happens. Instead an Eighties-synthie layer
emerges from nowhere. This goes on for a minute more
or so, until suddenly and without warning the whole
thing breaks into a breakbeat with multiple
percussions and lots of echo, only mounted to the
first part by the bassline and by the recurring
synth-layers. And suddenly there is even a straight
drum rhythm.
Wonder what’s really going on here? Well, as soon as
Bruns and Rickman have turned the whole thing into a
thick layer of guitar- and synthsounds that will
remind you of whalesong before kicking into a deadly
groove for some time, you’ll wonder no more. The track
ends in white noise, perfect. I’ll spare you the
details of “Wobbly” because I guess you get the
picture and I don’t want to spoil the fun for you.
--
Georg Cracked
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