MBUF – SNAP

M B U F (Belgium) SNAP, released on April 17, 2024, is a 25-minute descent into electroacoustic turbulence. From the opening moments, the piece establishes a fragile hum that soon buckles under surges of distortion. At 6:45 a faint percussive crackle suggests rhythm, but it quickly dissolves into a shifting haze. The midpoint of the work, around 12:20, detonates in a searing blast of high-frequency noise, a reminder that silence here is only ever temporary. By 18:40 the sound mass has swollen into a suffocating wall that engulfs the stereo field, immersive and merciless. Yet *SNAP* is not monotone—its tension lies in the delicate balance between microscopic detail and overwhelming force. The spatial play is remarkable: layers drift, collide, and scatter across the spectrum like particles in flux. Listeners may hear echoes of Kevin Drumm’s austere noise slabs or the granular shimmer of Fennesz, but M B U F pushes further into a volatile in-between space. What results is not a composition in the traditional sense but an environment, one that refuses stability and thrives on rupture. SNAP is demanding, abrasive, and ultimately absorbing—a sonic landscape that tests the limits of endurance while rewarding deep immersion.

Genre

Experimental / Electroacoustic / Noise-Improvisation

Strengths

• Strengths

  Extended duration (nearly 25 minutes) allows a slow evolution of textures, from fragile crackle to overwhelming density.

• Dynamic contrasts: sudden spikes of intensity keep the ear alert, even within long static stretches.

• Stereo space: shifting layers move across the field, giving the impression of a constantly morphing environment.

Formal Aspects

• Structure is episodic, with overlapping layers that rise and fall rather than a linear progression.
• Long drone passages dissolve into fractured noise, then regroup in new combinations

Standout Moments / Key Points

06:45 – subtle rhythmic crackle emerges, almost percussive, underneath sustained drone.

12:20 – eruption of high-frequency noise, piercing and destabilizing.

18:40 – dense wall of sound spreads fully across the stereo image, peak of intensity.

22:55 – texture thins out into scattered fragments before fading.

Comparisons / References

Kevin Drumm – long-form noise structures balancing fragility and force.

Fennesz – in the layered granularity and shifting stereo fields.

Helm – for its abstract narrative, moving between ambience and abrasion.

Bandcamp Album link to M B U F – SNAP