Trialogos Premiere “Hikikomori” Video From Stroh zu Gold out June 18
Actually-experimentalist three-piece Trialogos will make their full-length debut on June 18 with Stroh zu Gold. Issued as the 100th release for respected purveyor Exile on Mainstream, the project’s first offering brings together a range of seemingly disparate elements, styles and methods, propelled by the willfully-off-the-wall creativity of multi-instrumentalists Kiki Bohemia, Sicker Man and Conny Ochs. And while the latter’s singer-songwriter stylings might be familiar to those who’ve followed his work either as a solo artist or in his Wino & Conny Ochs duo, Trialogos departs such traditionalist structure — there’s guitars in here of various kinds, but from opener “Lavu Santu” onward, the idea is so much more about texture than strum — and the eight-song/39-minute offering varies direction on a per-track basis, ready and willing to go where a given piece might lead.
In the opener, that’s to a droning wash. In the subsequent title-track, it’s key-backed dance-groove night-vibing. In “Batdance” — sadly not a Prince cover — it’s harsh-industrial blast turned to ’80s popmaking turned to ambient noise twists. 
And in “Il Terzo Sogno,” which I’m going to assume is the wrap for side A, there is some acoustic drum in a modernist-classical-feeling progression; it feels like a lifeline considering the ground Trialogos have covered. And side B mirrors the intent, with “Mali:Berlin” progressing early into a buildup of string sounds around a central rhythm before dropping to drone wash and malevolent churn in its final moments, “Rip Current” renewing the mechanized feel that the opening of “Batdance” hinted at but pushing it into willful aural drudgery, and “Wellenreiter” boasting a few Ulver-style lyrics sung over a desolate soundscape that comes to life in consuming fashion, the voices no more expected than anything by that point but no more out of place.
It is a drifting, floating presence Trialogos create, but Stroh zu Gold is satisfying in its exploration. “Wellenreiter” gives way to the immediately wistful “Hikikomori,” which presents a lonely vision for a lonely time in its arrangement of strings, guitar and effects. Its shorter run recalls the cinematic touch of “Il Terzo Sogno,” and it rises and recedes subtly into the keys and loops that finish in a fade. The band performed “Hikikomori” (among others) in March at WUK Halle/Saale in collaboration with a dance performance by Ellen Brix, and it’s from that footage — suitably manipulated and mirrored, etc. — that the video below comes. There’s also a link where you can see the original dance pieces if so inclined.
Stroh zu Gold isn’t going to be for everyone, and it isn’t meant to be, but it’s a personal expression on the part of Trialogos and resonates in a very real and emotional way for something that so readily leaves the straightforward behind. You would call it evocative for its ability to take you from one place to another.
Please enjoy:
Trialogos, “Hikikomori” official video premiere
Experimental/cinematic rock collective TRIALOGOS – formed by Conny Ochs, Sicker Man, and Kiki Bohemia – presents a new video for the track “Hikikomori,” from the trio’s impending debut LP, Stroh Zu Gold.
The album is available here: https://shop.mainstreamrecords.de/product/eom100
Hikikomori: (jap.) also known as acute social withdrawal, is total withdrawal from society and seeking extreme degrees of social isolation and confinement. Hikikomori refers to both the phenomenon in general and the recluses themselves.
The actual video footage used in the “Hikikomori” video is taken from a performance involving the dancer and choreographer Ellen Brix. In March 2021 Ellen Brix and TRIALOGOS worked together on a dance performance at WUK Halle/Saale in Germany. Brix had developed and constructed a special moving floor on which she danced, while the band supported her with music and sound. The “Hikikomori” video was filmed by Lutz Kretschmann with final editing handled by Tobias Vethake.
The actual dance video can be found here and appears courtesy of Ellen Brix: https://fb.watch/5wTP9JjsP_/
Sicker Man comments on the creation of the track, “TRIALOGOS is a project that was formed during the lockdown of the Coronavirus crisis and the character of this pandemic also defined the way we worked on this album. We were sitting secluded in our studio and improvising structures and musical elements. We interrupted the stream of sound only to eat and drink or to play cards while listening to our recordings. The music was a kind of campfire we sat around to keep us warm and sane. And as ‘Hikikomori’ was part of the session, that was recorded on our very first day; it really represents the atmosphere and process of Stroh Zu Gold.”
Conny Ochs describes the performance as a special experience: “The session at the WUK Theatre space in Halle was our first glimpse at something that came close to an actual live performance. When we were offered the chance to improvise together with Ellen, we sure said yes to the chance to gain access to such a space and play at a high volume finally after weeks of isolation. The experience was truly cathartic, both frightening in the sense of feeling that isolation still after all and facing the gaping void where an audience would supposedly be, but also healing, through simply letting the music reverberate between us, and the longing of each of us to share it. That is why we chose to release some of the material that was shot that day. Having in mind the idea that it can accompany this tune about loneliness and hope in a way that will transport our experience at WUK. That healing comes through sharing.”
Conny Ochs: Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Vocals, Bass, Drums, Percussion
Sicker Man: Acoustic & Electric Cello, Guitars, Juno 6, Moog, Lapsteel, Beats, Effects
Kiki Bohemia: Rhodes, Vocals, Bass, Dictaphone, Autoharp, Effects
Exile on Mainstream Records website
Tags: Exile on Mainstream, Germany, Stroh Zu Gold, Trialogos, Trialogos Stroh Zu Gold
