Operations - Knights Move
[Dead Pilot Records]

“Deadlight” and “Rösselsprung”, the two tracks featured on “Knights Move”, directly refer to two important German war operation codenames, during World War II. For their second release, Dead Pilot have housed this disc in an inventive tin can package and added some original photographic negative material. There has clearly been a lot of thought put into this record, from both artist and label.

Rösselsprung, for example, translates as a knight’s move in a game of chess, while Operation Deadlight refers to a German tactic whereby they scuttled surrendered U-Boats off the coast of Scotland and Northern Ireland. Scuttling is the deliberate act of sinking surrendered ships; the Germans sunk no fewer than 121 of their own boats between the years of 1939 and 1946, in a bid to stop their foes gaining an advantage over them. Many remain deep under water to this day, with much of the German army regalia intact on board. Placed inside the tin can, “Knights Move” genuinely looks like a recovered artifact from one of those U-Boats. Like a time capsule containing a lost war recording, if you will.

With the history lesson over, the murky depths of a track like “Rösselsprung” evoke images of the deep sea divers investigating the dark compartments of these underwater vessels. Using manipulated field recordings, broken electronic pulses, flickers of static and lulling synth patches, Operations develops this thirteen minute piece into a mass of immersive, buried processed sounds, capturing the tranquility of the atmospheres that brood under the surface of the sea. Machinefabriek is an obvious reference point on this disc. “Deadlight” is a looped, grainy piece that is, perhaps, less vitriolic than the Dutchman’s work. The underlying spectral melody is coated in a thick, industrial dust that gives the nebulous haze a vast, sonorous edge.

This twenty minute CD-R has been issued in a limited run of just 90 copies by Dead Pilot. The first 40 come in the tin can package, complete with a bonus disc of material entitled “Ikarus”. It is safe to say that those with a dislike for these sorts of sounds need not apply, but for those with a penchant for Ambient/Drone, Operations is an artist you should be investigating. For Dead Pilot, though, it is inspiring for a label to put so much into each release. This is an imprint for purists.

(Get your copy of the CD-R here)

Knights Move Track Listing:

1. Deadlight
2. Rösselsprung