Pepijn Caudron (born in 1975), widely known as Kreng. Caudron is a Flemish actor and contemporary composer who lives and works in Mechelen, Belgium. Kreng started his career as a thoughtfully sample-based project, who incorporated sounds from various rare musical sources: free improvisation, variable electronics, modern classical, folklore, field recordings and others. The project progressively gained more and more theatrical and cinematic musical color and thus it started to receive an attention from alternative film and theater directors. Kreng has worked on more than twenty theater and dance performances, most of them produced by the Belgian non-traditional theatre-commune Abattoir Fermé.. Caudron has officially released two full-length striking albums (both formats CD and vinyl) on the honorable Miasmah record label and two digital EPs on short-lived Fant00m imprint. This October he is ready to launch his third album “Works for Abattoir Fermé 2007 – 2011?, which will consist of four vinyls.
- Secret Thirteen
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</a><br><span style="color: darkgreen;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>L'Autopsie Phénoménale de Dieu</strong></span><strong><br><br><span style="font-size: 11pt;">"Noise lost the power to insult. Silence hasn’t" – John Cage</span></strong> <br><em>"On initial listening, ‘L’Autopsie Phenomenale De Dieu’ immediately presents itself as a fully-realised body of work, with focus, flow and continuity. It may therefore come as a surprise to discover that the album mainly comprises recordings created for a variety of separate theatre productions, and even more of a surprise to learn that the compositions found here are sample-based constructions. The pieces incorporate sounds and material from a variety of sources: free-jazz, new electronic generated sounds, classical modernism and vintage geographical recordings. The subtleties of the techniques Kreng has employed in the creation of theses pieces is simply stunning.<br><br>Discordant segments of wailing top-end violins give way to clunking rhythmic passages of metal marimbas and tuned percussion; free roaming passages of rasping low-end brass and the shuffle of free jazz. recalling the work of Prestige-era Moondog, as well as aspects of Harry Partch’s instrumentation via mid- to latterday period Tom Waits, are all at work here. Atonal ambiance and slow builds, eerie segues into low murk, and a haunting solo soprano voice are all pulled together to make perfect sense, often in terrifying ways. The creative process in Kreng’s twisted soundscapes works perhaps in parallel with the abstract and often disturbing work of the Abattoir Fermé theatre company, which has used many of the scores found here in a variety of their productions. In this context, the dark and threatening moods the album creates suggest it may house more subversive, ritualistic, even occult undertones; Kreng’s music is based upon the possibility of silence as a confrontational weapon.<br><br>‘L’Autopsie Phenomenale De Dieu’ also features suitably twisted artwork coordinated by <strong>Erik Skodvin</strong>, and, aside from scoring over twenty theatre and dance productions, Kreng has been involved in several collaborative projects with various members of Belgium’s musical underground, including producing a remix for Badawi's ‘Unit Of Resistance’ album (aka Raz Mesinai - Tzadik )."</em><br>- <a href="http://www.miasmah.com/recordings/cat.html#MIACD010">Miasmah 2009</a><br><br>ETA: The cover from Miasmah:<br><img src="http://www.miasmah.com/recordings/gfx/mialp010.jpg"></span></div></li></ol>
Kreng live at Icarus.fm 04-12-2011
- This is no longer available in Europe as a boxset but still available as 4 individual albums (very strange ?):
Works for Abattoir Fermé 2007 - 2011
- "Pepijn Caudron's soiled, wall-crawling ambience has been widely acclaimed in recent years, and while he only has two albums out in the world, each one has pushed his sound to deeper, grimier places. These records are not the complete story, however – Caudron has been composing similarly stifling long-form drones for many years in his capacity as a member of the renowned theatre troupe Abattoir Fermé, and 'Works for Abattoir Fermé 2007-2011' collects this material over four jam-packed LPs and bundles in a 10" of music composed for the TV show 'Monster' as the icing on the cake. On top of the reams of unreleased material we're treated to full, unedited versions of a handful of tracks included on Caudron's earlier LPs and it's a rare pleasure to hear them presented in their original, intended context. This is some of the most epic and evocative dark ambient music this side of Deathprod, and Caudron finally has the space he deserves to show his musical scope and reach. The theatrical reference point is appropriate, but Caudron's scores are never tempted by the vaudeville, rather they evoke a similar mood that Alan R. Splet and David Lynch achieved in 'Eraserhead' or Howard Shore in 'Videodrome'. There is a sense of widescreen without any of the usual tropes, and this is simply a testament to Caudron's veteran's touch.
Each extended side is crafted from an arsenal of samples, disintegrating vinyl and corroded tape, and Caudron manipulates these sounds in a way that belies the sources. Rather than allow the sounds to emerge, they stay trapped beneath swathes of noise, tape delay and oppressive bass giving us a compositions that emerge like a cross between William Basinski, Jerry Goldsmith (circa Alien) and Thomas Koner. 'Works for Abattoir Fermé is not for the faint of heart, but for the rest of us it might be just what the Doctor ordered…"
- And here are the seperate albums:
Tourniquet - (2007)
- "In ‘Tourniquet’, Abattoir Fermé continues on its path of silent and filmlike theatre and makes its most visual work to date. The piece suggests the history and contours of a house and its three ‘ghosts’ - with Kreng’s intriguing soundscore as an invisible fourth character. ‘Tourniquet’ is a production without spoken words, focussing upon the ideas of rituals and trance and influenced by modern day exorcisms.
‘Tourniquet’ was selected for the Dutch Theatre Festival in 2007 as one of the year’s best productions. The piece has travelled all over Europe and remains on the company’s repertoire."
Tourniquet Part I @ Youtube - Part 2
Mythobarbital - (2008)
- "Originally planned as a well-made play about swinging (or partner swapping), Abattoir Fermé’s ‘Mythobarbita’l gradually developped into something quite different. During the course of its rehearsal period in early 2008, all text was swept aside and the company set out to create a wordless and highly visual phantasmagoria, featuring three characters - or rather: ghosts of what once may have been real people - who find themselves so bored with daily routine that their only way out seems to be an escape into a fairytale world.
‘Mythobarbital’ is thus, after ‘Moe maar op en dolend’ (2005) and ‘Tourniquet’ (2007), the third in a series of silent productions in which Abattoir Fermé creates a visual narrative, supported by a strong soundtrack created by Kreng. Combining a love for things like shadowy netherworlds, semireligious extacy and kinky role plays, ‘Mythobarbital’ - a combination of myths and barbiturates - is a visual journey through the dark fantasies of long-lost Titans."
- "Carried by home composer Kreng’s impressive soundtrack and using an a-typical economy in sets and props and, ‘Snuff’ immerses the spectactor into a highly stylized universe of murder and hidden passions. It is a wordless, kaleidoscopic ritual dealing with death and murder throughout cultural history; using cinematographic images, balancing on the border between high art and kitsch and gradually unfolding into, one of Abattoir’s darkest performances yet."
Monkey - (2011)
- "For its new piece ‘Monkey’, Abattoir Fermé finds inspiration in two legendary tales of debauchery. In the 17th century, John Wilmot assembled the so called Merry Gang, a bunch of artists and noblemen from the court of Charles II, to keep him company when going down the drain. In the 1940’s, Erroll Flynn, W.C. Fields, John Barrymore and other Hollywood stars styled themselves the Bundy Drive Boys, when going out on the rampage together.
Booze and sex, public provocation, pranks and practical jokes, theatrical pose, misanthrope humour, transgression and self destruction,.. are all recurrent themes with both outfits.
For Abattoir Fermé the misadventures of these two clubs formed only a starting point, from which the company drew a portrait of a new group of characters who find themselves in a permanent state of “in extremis”, somewhere on a distant and lonely planet, ugly, grotesque and without mercy."
- Miasmah Recordings - Abatoir Fermé
- Secret Thirteen Mix 038 is a painstaking musical montage, made of differently performed diverse solo instruments sampled parts. The whole work is filled with compositions of such honorable classical virtuosos as Krzysztof Penderecki, Bernard Herrmann, Erik Satie, Bill Dixon, John Cage, John Butcher, Giacinto Scelsi and others. This enigmatic musical selection has reasonable potential to call itself a timeless masterwork which connects different period and generation talents in the luxurious fictional scene.
- A grandiose musical collection, consisting of thirty four accurately cut and edited records. Skillfully merged and smoothly developed instrumental installation creates an absolute solid feeling for the listener. Deliberate layering of strings, keyboards, percussion and wind instruments is equivalent to the professional live performance of the whole ensemble. Occasionally emerging significant spoken-words in the fragile background enrich the musical ideology in the dramaturgical perspective. Sometimes appearing subtle dissonance mystifies the whole work and evokes controversial depressive and nostalgic feelings. In some ways it is an example of Krengs personal creations where he uses micro-scale samples, only this time it can be called a macro-scale. High-quality cathedral sounding experience with all of its subtle balanced emotional vision and arrangement fully educates the listening audience.
Secret Thirteen Mix 038 is like a genuine and humanistic Jean Dubuffet low art painting Grand Jazz Band where beauty of truthfulness expresses personalities and their musical instruments as equally important. Caudron definitely revealed himself as a passionate and educated collector of records who has an extensive musical philosophy and a talent which is needed for being a major composer."
- Edited.
- There's a complete list of samples used in this extraordinary brilliant mix / composition.
Kreng - And Then In The Morning 7"
- "...And Then In The Morning is another step in Kreng ?s catalogue of haunting memorabilia and claustrophobic beauty. The 3 short pieces on this 7" is some sort of a mini story that captures the narration of dreams in an in-between state often found in the morning. Cold sweated fever bursts summons a strange limbo styled Flamenco dance piece that your unsure if you should dance to or not. Epic scaled waves of classical melancholia underlines the narration of Susana Meza ?s heart broken dream and closes off piece four in the seven pieces series in a state of haze and wonder."
Kreng presents Main Titles
Compiled & Mixed by Kreng @ The Attic 31 July 2010
- "The wonderful Miasmah artist Kreng was asked by Unsound to make a podcast tying into our 2010 "Horror - the pleasure of fear and unease" theme. He created a unique mix, with music taken from a wide array of horror and sci fi soundtracks, described here in his own words: "This turned out to be a vicious slow burner, calm and slow in the beginning but gradually evolving into a hideous monster." Please note that this is not representative of what Kreng will do with the Belgian theatre group Abattoir Fermé at Unsound Krakow, with whom he will perform - will be some interesting surprises there, for sure."
Here’s the splendidly diverse track list:
0000 - ‘I Am Criswell’ - Jeron Criswell Konig - Taken from ‘Orgy Of The Dead’ - 1965
0040 - ‘Main Title’ - Marius Constant - Taken from the Television Series ‘The Twilight Zone’ - 1964
0110 - ‘Main Title (Kreng Stretch) ’ - Max Steiner - Kreng remix; from Max Steiner’s 1935 score for the movie ‘She’
1100 - ‘Main Title’ - James Horner - Taken from ‘Aliens’ - 1985
1536 - ‘Main Titles’ - John WIlliams - Taken from ‘E.T. - The Extra Terrestrial’ - 1982
1632 - ‘Driveway To The Cemetery (Main Titles)’ - Spencer Moore - Taken From ‘Night Of The Living Dead’ - 1968
1850 - ‘Zombi (Main Title) - Kreng Remix’ - Goblin -Kreng remix;from Goblin’s score for ‘Dawn Of The Dead’ - 1978
2826 - ‘Main Title’ - Bernard Herrmann - Taken from ‘Sisters’ - 1973
Miasmah recordings @_miasmah · 12. jan:
Kreng - The Summoner (coming early february). Watch a promo teaser here
Kreng - The Summoner
The Summoner comes 4 years since the last Kreng album Grimoire and 3 years since the massive retrospective box set Works for Abattoir Férme 2007-2011. A lot has happened in between, and this new recording can be seen as quite the departure from the aformentioned.
His most personal album to date, The Summoner is based around the 5 stages of mourning and is made after a year of losing several close friends. Hard enough material to work on, he decided to add a 6th stage, entitled The Summoning to be able to arrive at the finalé, Acceptance.
Conjuring up the spirit of György Ligeti, the first half of the album is made entirely of 12 string players being directed to play around, make noisey clusters and crescendoes, moving you between Denial, Anger, Bargaining and Depression. In fact, The Summoner is the first Kreng album NOT made by hordes of samples. Music to really dig deep in to.
Following into the second part of the album, twists and turns are taken and it's hard to know where exactly you are. The Summoning's haunting organs and smoke-filled chambers lead you in to an earth- shaking wall of guitars, drums and bass courtesy of Belgian doom band Amenra. Leaving you in a state of shock, the album closes in an incredibly heartfelt and quiet way with the fittingly named Acceptance."
Miasmah Recordings
Norman Records review
What happens when you throw together a fallen Mexican wrestler with serious rage issues, a just-out-of-prison ex-con with a regrettable face tattoo, and a recovering junkie motel owner in search of a kidney? That’s the premise of the berserk, blood-spattered, and wickedly entertaining feature debut from Ryan Prows. Set amidst the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles, Lowlife zigzags back and forth in time as it charts how fate—and a ruthless crime boss—connects three down-and-out reprobates mixed up in an organ harvesting scheme that goes from bad to worse to off-the-rails insane. Careening from savagely funny to just plain savage to unexpectedly heartfelt, this audacious thriller serves up nonstop adrenaline alongside hard-hitting commentary about the state of contemporary America.
- Out on the film music label Lakeshore and is likely to show up on €music
The Night Hag
Erik is known for starting the Acoustic Doom genre back in 2006 through the Type Records released debut album "Knive". He has also toured and worked with a broad selection of varied artists, from Fever Ray to Johann Johannson, Nils Frahm, Andrea Belfi & Aaron Moore to name a few.
Kreng (Pepijn Caudron)
The Pleiades EP archive.org Zomer (EP) archive.org
L'Autopsie Phénoménale De Dieu Grimoire
Works For Abattoir Fermé 2007 - 2011 The Summoner