born out of spark of conceptualism, nurtured in the atmosphere of plain old fun, generously fed with experimentation and creativity, this album evolved to become quite a character. I have already gotten used to the haywire electronics of the duo, so the sound of "gioco bambino" was not a surprise. more surprising was the media used. a gameboy has served as a sound (and probably inspiration) source for this release. this bizarre reincarnation of the simple toy, a strange mix of playful yet dangerously sharp and mechanized sounds is an interesting concept open for many interpretations.

the atmosphere of this release is constantly changing ­ from warm analog bubble bath to almost power electronics-inspired static collages, from isolated minimal pan sonic sounding experimentations to almost melodic rich textures.

looped low-fi analog bleeps, rhythmic pulses, plenty of elongated atonal lines open the cd. heavier percussion drones appear for a few seconds, darker abrasive slides give way to pure analog bliss. behind hurting splinters and protruding spikes there’s depth and certain volatile mood that is hard to capture in words. the music is playful, very mechanized and flowery, strangely rich considering the primitivism of building blocks. with every song being completely unexpected, it is not chaotic, nor it is overly pretentious.

out of steadily repeating loops and small, cut-up, crunchy noises rises warm and fuzzy, almost melodic mass that could spark colorful memories of funk, glamorous 80s, or experimental avant-garde of idm. all of those would be just a momentary image that is swept away the very next moment by almost menacing heavy drop of percussion on "tartaruga intelligente" or abrasive mass of corroded static on "un testardo rumoroso."

the video game theme that seems to be the first and the most apparent one never occurs to me; this release is too rich and unexpected to fit within the boundaries of a predefined character and plot developments of a game. the album appears to be vivid documentary of a world of toys abandoned and evolving on their own, intriguing, playing, exploring the isolated microcosm around them, carefully extending their reach. they are playful yet often concealing bold curiosity and at times even threatening force behind the friendly mask. the outcome of each little episode in their lives is unpredictable, leaving it up to the listener to interpret the resulting music theme.

I am not sure if my perception of klangstabil’s music has changed since I have heard their earlier material, but this release is indeed the richest and most interesting work they have done to date in the genre of experimental electronic music.

from: http://www.nezzwerk.com/seven/reviews/album_review.php?id=415

It's a simple enough brief: to record an album's worth of tracks using only a Nintendo Gameboy and some effects appliances, with no overdubs. It's not clear why Maurizio Blanco and Boris May set themselves this task, but these overtly synthetic, demonically insistent and manically arpeggiated riffs have a certain boggling charm. Drawing on techno, funk and disco vocabularies, Klangstabil's insane tunes in short looped sequences take their tinkling drones and rude bleeps and force them into grainy and muddy overdrive. "Tartaruga Intelligente" stretches belief: Metalheadz imbibing large doses of helium. Simple marching rhythms give the tracks a childish pomp and pertness, while the sounds that pocket games have developed to register emotions such as suprise and victory form a semi-recognisable expressive vocabulary. If lo-tech equipment could produce its own folk music, it might sound like this.

THE WIRE # 198, August 2000 reviewed by: Matt Ffytche

 

Behind this Italian word hides one of the famoust electronic toys of the last decade: the Nintendo Game-Boy. But why should name a band it's album like this? The answer: because they made their music with this Game-Boy! You don't believe it? It's true! The whole album - like the LP Sprite Storage Format - was done with a Game-Boy and an additional camera cartridge. Nothing else. So I hear you say now: how can this be interesting music then? Well. I say, it's the most interesting and best album of Klangstabil ever. Its a crazy idea and a crazy sound, but it's good! We know Klangstabil as sound-artists, experimenting with sounds of any kind and often presenting us pieces of sound that cannot be described as music anymore (5 Minuten Klangstabil). But this time, Klangstabil goes almost pop. :-)) The tracks on the album are well structured and the listener is even able do define several sound-patterns and repeating structures you maybe could call a chorus. The beats are often straight forward and mixed up with sampled and looped sequences from Game-Boy-game-soundtracks. Of course a track like "Azione" reminds me of the golden Commodore C-64-times and you feel like playing Tetris or Space Invaders when you listen to the music, but thats only one part of the album. The tracks are not childish but really powerful and interesting. The track "Mostro" for example is still a typical Klangstabil-track with its confusing sounds and the whirling tunes driving you mad, but you would never think that a Game-Boy is the source of this music. If you want to hear something really unheared before, if you like Klangstabil and if you are open for real musical experiments, then buy this album. And yeah - it's a CD this time!

From: New Empire, 6/2000

 

Klangstabil - Gioco Bambino (Plate Lunch/Megahertz)

Gioco Bambino heisst auf italienisch Gameboy und damit ist über die aktuelle CD der beiden Schwaben Maurizio Blanco und Boris May schon eine ganze Menge ausgesagt. "Gioco Bambino" wurde ausschließlich mit einem Gameboy, einer Gameboy-Kamera als "Minimalmischpult" und ein paar Effekten in einem Rutsch aufgenommen. Herausgekommen sind dabei 12 Tracks, die mit einer betont monotonistischen Sicht, der Klangstabil-typischen Affinität zu den dunklen Seiten der Elektronik und nicht zu vernachlässigendem Lärmfaktor zu bemerkens- wert beunruhigenden Ergebnissen führen ("Un Testardo Rumoroso", "Tartaruga Intelligente"). Die Konsequenz, mit der hier ein selbstbeschränkendes Konzept auseinander differenziert wird, zollt Respekt und Bewunderung ab. Außerdem wurde es auch Zeit, den Gameboy aus dem Umfeld der niedlichen Kulleraugen- Ästhetik einmal radikal zu emanzipieren.

from: Groove Magazine (Germany) 6/2000 reviewied by: JD

 

Mit Gameboy zu produzieren ist ja schon eine Weile en vogue, aber dass, wenn Klangstabil das tun, etwas anderes rauskommt als nur lustige Spielemelodien, oder zumindest eine andere Vision von Spiel, war eigentlich schon klar. So beginnen sie auch mit einem, für diese Verhältnisse unvorstellbar, darken Track in symphonischem Minimalismus. Selbst die Tracks die schon eher so klingen wie man sich einen Gameboy vorstellt, haben eine schwere melancho- lische Stimmung, so als ginge es immer nur um die am liebsten endlos ausgedehnte Zeit kurz vor Game Over, in der man nun die Prinzessin rettet oder nicht, und in der der kleine Kasten seine psychedelischen Qualitäten der monoton rudimentären Miniaturwelt voll ausleben kann. 12 Tracks in voller Länge, die einem das Herz aus der Seele reissen können, kurz bevor das Leben bis zum Neustart endgültig vorbei ist. Wer sich an ihre Böhm LP erinnert, der wird wissen wie gut Klangstabil mit obskurem Equipment unerhörtes produzieren, und genau das tun sie hier auch wieder. Selten hat man sich so auf den Gameboy konzentriert und weniger auf das Image von kleinen niedlichen Figürchen die auf ihm in den paar Pixeln mühevoll rumhoppeln.

review: de:bug/bleed ***** (12.05.2000)

 

 

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