All songs written and performed by Jealousy Mountain Duo
recorded on 24 track 1 reel tape january-march 2011
album vinyl,cd and digital download out september 2011
blunoise records/alive
Jealousy Mountain Duo — Two-man German band Jealousy Mountain Duo’s self-titled longplayer was released by experimental German label Blunoise, a perfect portmanteau of Jealousy Mountain Duo’s disparate ’60s jazz and noisy, math-rock influences. Jealousy Mountain Duo takes a deconstructivist approach to its experimental blend of post-modern jazz and mathy indie rock, its guitars looping looping and conflicting melodies, its drums working in and out of rhythms, eschewing any semblance of straightforward timekeeping for an abstract counterbalance to the swirl of notes and tones. The result is tightly controlled chaos, a sonic maelstrom where form doesn’t necessarily follow function. This, truly, is radical stuff. In both senses of the word. P. Wall
Jealousy Mountain Duo
This album has moments of intensity, but it's a very intimate album.
Guitarist Berger plays with mostly clean tones, and these songs are built around his employment of a looping pedal, over which the duo builds slowly evolving compositions.
Using a looping pedal introduces a bit of a formula into most of these songs: typically a "bass part" or relatively simple riff is looped, and more complex parts are added over the top. But Berger mixes up his approach, sometimes looping higher parts first and performing lower riffs "underneath," sometimes looping rhythmically busy passages and playing long tones over them, and he continues to feed different parts into loops as the music evolves, sometimes recording extra parts toward the beginning on songs that don't get introduced into the songs again until much later, like the moments of intentionally microtonal guitar used in "Sidewalk Soul." Loops are sometimes used in reverse, too, adding a nice contrast in articulation.
Jazz influences seep into this record's drum work, sounding like a blend of Zach Hill and a Buddy Rich solo at the most hyper moments.
Schneider must be applauded for the quality of this recording, too, which is a sensitively captured live-to-1'' tape affair. The drums are rich and warm, and the complex overtones of Berger's amp going into a touch of overdrive when it's overwhelmed with multiple loops is faithfully reproduced. This is one of those rare records that I'm guessing represents the sound of this band almost exactly as they are live.
Speaking of which, I was very bummed to realize that Jealousy Mountain Duo toured the US last fall--just missed 'em by a few months! Fortunately, they're planning another fall tour of the US for this year, and also hoping to make another record. If you're in the US, keep an eye out for Jealousy Mountain Duo dates around October. And if you want to investigate either of these albums in more detail, you can go to the Blunoise Records website, or you can find Jealousy Mountain Duo on Bandcamp.
—Scott Scholz KILLED in CARS
credits
released September 9, 2011
JEALOUSY MOUNTAIN DUO
berger-guitar
schneider-drums
supported by 9 fans who also own “jealousy mountain duo”
A brilliant record - you can feel this perfect balance between the chaos of noise and the harmony of two gifted musicians interacting.
Big respect for the drumming of Sebastian Fäth - a pure storytelling in the rhythm structures! kusagauma
This heady trio cranks out driving, electronic-tinged power jazz. It's a raucous party that's a bit free and a touch punk. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 20, 2015
The Australian instrumental band juxtapose classical pianos and ambient swells with uncompromising, proggy post-metal. Bandcamp New & Notable Aug 9, 2023
supported by 7 fans who also own “jealousy mountain duo”
super nice surreal beachy tunes. pleasant beats by my favorite band! i got into them back in feb 2020 right before the onset of quarantine so there's a special vibe i associate with them that this album has always managed to preserve. Raine