split c40
[2007, tanzprocesz]

i/c/o/c (input cable output cable) is marcos hassan, from mexico city. mexico city? noise? huh? creo que este es muy interesante. marcos also releases as monosidic, which is more of a digital hardcore type of deal. he runs the kiddieriot imprint, which so far seems to be marcos' outlet for releasing his own work.

panicsville [right] is none other than chicagoan andy ortmann (well, sometimes it includes people other than andy). to know him is to love him. he's also got nihilist records going for him.

when i reviewed the svstriate & tralphaz split awhile back i mentioned that one of the benefits of splits is that it can raise your awareness to an artist by pairing them with someone more recognizable. glorious case in point with this tape. while i've been hesitant towards panicsville splits after the release with lovely little girls that was unexpected and not really my thing, i took a gamble and bought this without ever previously hearing of the name i/c/o/c. i must say that i'm glad that i did. marcos really impressed the bejeezus out of me. there's a dense noise to both of his tracks, but beyond that there's some great memorable layers of guitar, percussion and synth (not all on the same pieces). the guitar playing in the beginning of D0_o_0DiIL LiiMMM MMDdbdb db000TTTT gives it character that a lot of denser-based noise artists severely lack. pair that with the repetitious synth loop and you've got yourself a fine piece of work. not to mention that the dense rumble itself changes shape over its eight minute course. es muy bueno. NGVvVvtttTT//tttlinnilt arartTGnNnVL is still really noisy, but a lot less dense. this time the noise detractors are dual drum loops, which do their jobs extremely well. it helps that each drum loop has its own channel. the one in the left is louder, while the one in the right is more subdued, but the rest of the noise is occurring more in that right channel. like i said, i'm real impressed with i/c/o/c.panicsville treats us to a fairly restrained twenty-minute piece entitled architects of demonic intellect. after six minutes of water sounds and warm background music, it gets a wee bit more sinister sounding as it begins venturing into dark ambient luasa raelon territory. i particularly liked what what was going on towards the end with that hum that you get when you touch the end of a cable jack to a stereo input. it's a great sound, and it achieves a wonderful effect at the hands of panicsville.

this tape is part of tanzprocesz's 'procession tapes' series. that pairs the french label's cassette releases with some nice artwork by fellow countryman jonas delaborde, who also does a graphic zine, nazi knife, with hendrik hegray. this was only put out in an edition of fifty, and they're practically all bye-bye. if you want to be able to hold this fine release in your hand, i'd suggest checking with marcos (via kiddieriot's myspace), as it seems like he has a couple left.

I/C/O/C - NGVvVvtttTT//tttlinnilt arartTGnNnVL Excerpt (from 0:00 to 5:01)
Panicsville - Architects of Demonic Intellect Excerpt (from 6:50 to 11:05)