Saturday, March 31, 2007
kelvin pittman
solos 69/70 3" cd-r
[2007, micronizer]
ah, my review of the portland bike ensemble's 12" came at just the right time as it raised my awareness to a few of kelvin's current releases, which i promptly jumped on. this on
e was released on his micronizer imprint, i owe his secretary, for bringing the label to my attention, thanks again!
when kelvin isn't blowing minds as a part of the portland bike ensemble, he's blowing notes on the alto saxophone, solo as well as in $uper unity and the owl in daylight.
the saxophone could, quite possibly, be the most polarizing of all musical instruments, well, it's either that or the bagpipes. my feelings on it lie somewhere in the middle. there's only so much free jazz saxophone noodling i can handle, but give me some sabir mateen or jemeel moondoc, and i'm golden. as for kelvin's approach with these improv'd pieces, i'd have to say that he strikes an ideal balance for this twelve minute long set. the, infrequent, freer balls-out moments are still somewhat held in check. paul flaherty this is not, and that's fine by me. and don't give me that look, i like paul flaherty just fine. it's also worth mentioning that you won't be tapping your toes to anything on here, unless you have the most fucked up sense of rhythm ever, if that's the case, you just enjoy being you. what kp's doing is spread out and more rooted in experimentation. as far as actual sound's concerned, it's alternately noisy, conventional, delicate and minimal. again, the word of the day here is balance. solos 69/70 has that in spades and i'm certainly impressed.
Alto Saxophone Improvisations 69/70 Excerpt (from 4:18 to 8:03)
joe foster & kelvin pittman
split c40
[2006, cherried-out merch]
soul seoul musician (fuck me, couldn't resist), by way of portland, by way of someplace else, joe foster has collaborated with a jaw-dropping list of musicians. while i'm not quite up for tallying all of them, i'll highlight some better known (to me) artists of interest: otomo yoshihide, bryan eubanks (half of god, with leif erik sundström), sachiko m, joseph hammer, amy denio, leticia castaneda, tomas korber, günter müller, axel dörner and mattin. his full-time musical gig is with 
bonnie jones in english [pictured]. joe was also a founding member of $uper unity, though i question whether he's currently involved with the group (in any facet) due to his geographical constraints.
up until this tape, joe foster's music had eluded me, but that's a wrong that i'm going to right, right now, as i'm downloading a few choice selections from slsk... matter of fact, i'm dl'ing this stuff from foster himself... funny... i could send him a message, but that's too intrusive... anyway, this is (roughly) seventeen minutes of glorious experimental electronic twitterings / noise. beginning more with minimal noise in the onset, the second half of joe's side is what wins me over. it's primarily concerned with excellently employed radio static, frequency modulations, record needle skips (sounds like it, at least) and memorable recurring tones, a different one in each stereo channel. it's the totality of foster's sounds that make this a great listen.
the first few minutes of kelvin's side are peppered with sax screeching, but it's delivered in easy to digest outbursts rather than unrelenting ones that'd have his cheeks resembling louis armstrong's. the more atonal playing is confined to the beginning, more or less. the rest of the side features the instrument played in (even?) more of an experimental nature. there's passages where his sax resembles nothing of the sort. in one instance it almost sounds like a stringed instrument. elsewhere, it comes closer to feedback. the later stages of this piece also feature longer, mellow, sustained notes, which are always nice to hear.
the selling point for kp's sax work is the broad range of styles that he uses. that and, obviously, how well he's pulling it all off. there's a lot going on, but he devotes just the right amount of time to every element. for example, with the squeaks and squeals heard in the onset, they're around just enough to allow you to get into them, without getting burnt out. that's something that i think is important when dealing with that particular brand of music, especially when it's played solo. it's a bit of a different story when you're doing that in a group atmosphere since you've got other musicians around to enhance it.
Joe Foster A2
Kelvin Pittman Side B Excerpt (from 2:02 to 6:10)
[2007, micronizer]
ah, my review of the portland bike ensemble's 12" came at just the right time as it raised my awareness to a few of kelvin's current releases, which i promptly jumped on. this on
e was released on his micronizer imprint, i owe his secretary, for bringing the label to my attention, thanks again!when kelvin isn't blowing minds as a part of the portland bike ensemble, he's blowing notes on the alto saxophone, solo as well as in $uper unity and the owl in daylight.
the saxophone could, quite possibly, be the most polarizing of all musical instruments, well, it's either that or the bagpipes. my feelings on it lie somewhere in the middle. there's only so much free jazz saxophone noodling i can handle, but give me some sabir mateen or jemeel moondoc, and i'm golden. as for kelvin's approach with these improv'd pieces, i'd have to say that he strikes an ideal balance for this twelve minute long set. the, infrequent, freer balls-out moments are still somewhat held in check. paul flaherty this is not, and that's fine by me. and don't give me that look, i like paul flaherty just fine. it's also worth mentioning that you won't be tapping your toes to anything on here, unless you have the most fucked up sense of rhythm ever, if that's the case, you just enjoy being you. what kp's doing is spread out and more rooted in experimentation. as far as actual sound's concerned, it's alternately noisy, conventional, delicate and minimal. again, the word of the day here is balance. solos 69/70 has that in spades and i'm certainly impressed.
Alto Saxophone Improvisations 69/70 Excerpt (from 4:18 to 8:03)
joe foster & kelvin pittman
split c40
[2006, cherried-out merch]
bonnie jones in english [pictured]. joe was also a founding member of $uper unity, though i question whether he's currently involved with the group (in any facet) due to his geographical constraints.up until this tape, joe foster's music had eluded me, but that's a wrong that i'm going to right, right now, as i'm downloading a few choice selections from slsk... matter of fact, i'm dl'ing this stuff from foster himself... funny... i could send him a message, but that's too intrusive... anyway, this is (roughly) seventeen minutes of glorious experimental electronic twitterings / noise. beginning more with minimal noise in the onset, the second half of joe's side is what wins me over. it's primarily concerned with excellently employed radio static, frequency modulations, record needle skips (sounds like it, at least) and memorable recurring tones, a different one in each stereo channel. it's the totality of foster's sounds that make this a great listen.
the first few minutes of kelvin's side are peppered with sax screeching, but it's delivered in easy to digest outbursts rather than unrelenting ones that'd have his cheeks resembling louis armstrong's. the more atonal playing is confined to the beginning, more or less. the rest of the side features the instrument played in (even?) more of an experimental nature. there's passages where his sax resembles nothing of the sort. in one instance it almost sounds like a stringed instrument. elsewhere, it comes closer to feedback. the later stages of this piece also feature longer, mellow, sustained notes, which are always nice to hear.
the selling point for kp's sax work is the broad range of styles that he uses. that and, obviously, how well he's pulling it all off. there's a lot going on, but he devotes just the right amount of time to every element. for example, with the squeaks and squeals heard in the onset, they're around just enough to allow you to get into them, without getting burnt out. that's something that i think is important when dealing with that particular brand of music, especially when it's played solo. it's a bit of a different story when you're doing that in a group atmosphere since you've got other musicians around to enhance it.Joe Foster A2
Kelvin Pittman Side B Excerpt (from 2:02 to 6:10)
Friday, March 30, 2007
scissortail
endless lust c20
[2005, dada drumming]
scissortail's endless lust c20 on the texas label, dada drumming, actually came out a few years back, but having listened to it recently after not hearing it for a while, i felt inclined to write about it. scissortail (aka dillon tulk) is known as something of a chameleon, tweaking his style for each release, never standing still for long enough to be pigeon-holed. this shape-shifting and promise of inconsistency has ensured a surprising listen every time. no other release epitomizes this more than endless lust, a cassette that demands to be heard but unfortunately is not getting the attention it deserves. at times the recording is harsh, but definitely not repetitious enough to be "wall" noise. voices appear and disappear throughout, man
y sounding like a fucked radio trying to tune it. the distorted action twists and turns, bending in on itself constantly, moving from one sound to another almost gracefully. this is the quickest twenty-minute listen in the world and is over before you even know what has happened. with its kinky, almost voyeuristic cover art, which has become pretty common recently in the noise scene, this is an almost perfect release. i cannot recommend this tape enough to anyone who is just getting into noise as it will leave you speechless.
dillon also ran the now-defunct green ox label, the outlet for a majority of scissortail releases throughout the years. sadly for us, the scissortail project itself is also out of commission. he now records under the name, ferveur noire, recently releasing a cassette on jon borges’ (pedestrian deposit) always impeccable monorail trespassing label.
this tape unfortunately just finally went out of print, so do yourself a favor and dub it from someone or download this sucker: you will not be disappointed.
Endless Lust Excerpt
reviewed by bortron
[2005, dada drumming]
scissortail's endless lust c20 on the texas label, dada drumming, actually came out a few years back, but having listened to it recently after not hearing it for a while, i felt inclined to write about it. scissortail (aka dillon tulk) is known as something of a chameleon, tweaking his style for each release, never standing still for long enough to be pigeon-holed. this shape-shifting and promise of inconsistency has ensured a surprising listen every time. no other release epitomizes this more than endless lust, a cassette that demands to be heard but unfortunately is not getting the attention it deserves. at times the recording is harsh, but definitely not repetitious enough to be "wall" noise. voices appear and disappear throughout, man
y sounding like a fucked radio trying to tune it. the distorted action twists and turns, bending in on itself constantly, moving from one sound to another almost gracefully. this is the quickest twenty-minute listen in the world and is over before you even know what has happened. with its kinky, almost voyeuristic cover art, which has become pretty common recently in the noise scene, this is an almost perfect release. i cannot recommend this tape enough to anyone who is just getting into noise as it will leave you speechless.dillon also ran the now-defunct green ox label, the outlet for a majority of scissortail releases throughout the years. sadly for us, the scissortail project itself is also out of commission. he now records under the name, ferveur noire, recently releasing a cassette on jon borges’ (pedestrian deposit) always impeccable monorail trespassing label.
this tape unfortunately just finally went out of print, so do yourself a favor and dub it from someone or download this sucker: you will not be disappointed.
Endless Lust Excerpt
reviewed by bortron
Thursday, March 29, 2007
blue gene tyranny
out of the blue
[2007, unseen worlds]
For better or worse, this is my first exposure to Blue Gene Tyranny, the american composer, performer, etc whose fame and reputation has seemingly far outpaced wider knowledge of the reasons behind said fame. Clout-wise, he's credited on some classic works from the likes of Robert Ashley and David Behrman, but Out of the Blue, originally released back in '77, is the fruit of his own compositional labours. Well, I guess songwriting is composition... sure, why not? A brief skip through the disc was all that was needed to see just what a potentially bizarre spot I'd found myself starting in. Turns out Out of the Blue is a strange nostalgic pop landscape lying in wait for the unwary.
A brief listen may make you wonder what all this has to do with Composer Blue Gene, but even Pop Blue Gene still bears traces of his influences. In fact, on some level Out of the Blue sounds like an attempt to co-opt Behrman's
casual and minimal compositional style as a base for trips into the realm of AM pop. So given I'm a big fan of Behrman's work, this should be a good thing, right? Right?
For the most part, it doesn't work.
Pure and simply I find the pop cheese too overwhelming on the first couple of tracks; the first passably tepid and nostalgic country pop, the second a jazz-funk monstrosity. In fact, the second is so jarring and seemingly pointless that it's exclusion would improve things immeasurably. Luckily the third track is a surprisingly pleasant and sparse take on dixie gospel, the extended whistling hums of the synth complementing BGT's traditional piano accompaniment, conjuring up exactly the kind of wistful but oddly affirming hokeyness that the collection seems to aspire to.
The entire second side is equally frustrating to me; the underlying track is really pleasant, and seems to hit upon the kind of ideal meeting-ground of the two styles, but again it's foiled by some unnecessary elements. The dreamy chorus girls, ambling guitar and washing synth work all produce something that rivals Behrman while deviating into a new and quite viable crossover of ideas. But goddamnit, there's a track of narration over the
top which kicks off with a madeline-esque onrush of nostalgia, and slowly but inevitably fills with a bunch of bullshit philosophising and just plain rambling that's mixed way too far up to tune out. Well done, you have successfully melded together the worst of Proust and Timothy Leary. That said, on a good day, it's actually quite hilarious, so all is not lost.
Essentially a record that's as promising and yet ultimately deflating as you'd expect of a pop lp coming from an academic electronic music haven like Mills College (even having residents in guest spots, like Maggi Payne on flute). A curiosity, but one I can't really recommend wholeheartedly due to the laughable off-the-rails blemishes. You might get more out of it than I did if you're a big fan of say... Julie Tipetts? But really, how many Tipetts fans visit our humble shores?
A3 - Leading a Double Life
[2007, unseen worlds]
For better or worse, this is my first exposure to Blue Gene Tyranny, the american composer, performer, etc whose fame and reputation has seemingly far outpaced wider knowledge of the reasons behind said fame. Clout-wise, he's credited on some classic works from the likes of Robert Ashley and David Behrman, but Out of the Blue, originally released back in '77, is the fruit of his own compositional labours. Well, I guess songwriting is composition... sure, why not? A brief skip through the disc was all that was needed to see just what a potentially bizarre spot I'd found myself starting in. Turns out Out of the Blue is a strange nostalgic pop landscape lying in wait for the unwary.
A brief listen may make you wonder what all this has to do with Composer Blue Gene, but even Pop Blue Gene still bears traces of his influences. In fact, on some level Out of the Blue sounds like an attempt to co-opt Behrman's
casual and minimal compositional style as a base for trips into the realm of AM pop. So given I'm a big fan of Behrman's work, this should be a good thing, right? Right?For the most part, it doesn't work.
Pure and simply I find the pop cheese too overwhelming on the first couple of tracks; the first passably tepid and nostalgic country pop, the second a jazz-funk monstrosity. In fact, the second is so jarring and seemingly pointless that it's exclusion would improve things immeasurably. Luckily the third track is a surprisingly pleasant and sparse take on dixie gospel, the extended whistling hums of the synth complementing BGT's traditional piano accompaniment, conjuring up exactly the kind of wistful but oddly affirming hokeyness that the collection seems to aspire to.
The entire second side is equally frustrating to me; the underlying track is really pleasant, and seems to hit upon the kind of ideal meeting-ground of the two styles, but again it's foiled by some unnecessary elements. The dreamy chorus girls, ambling guitar and washing synth work all produce something that rivals Behrman while deviating into a new and quite viable crossover of ideas. But goddamnit, there's a track of narration over the
top which kicks off with a madeline-esque onrush of nostalgia, and slowly but inevitably fills with a bunch of bullshit philosophising and just plain rambling that's mixed way too far up to tune out. Well done, you have successfully melded together the worst of Proust and Timothy Leary. That said, on a good day, it's actually quite hilarious, so all is not lost.Essentially a record that's as promising and yet ultimately deflating as you'd expect of a pop lp coming from an academic electronic music haven like Mills College (even having residents in guest spots, like Maggi Payne on flute). A curiosity, but one I can't really recommend wholeheartedly due to the laughable off-the-rails blemishes. You might get more out of it than I did if you're a big fan of say... Julie Tipetts? But really, how many Tipetts fans visit our humble shores?
A3 - Leading a Double Life
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
locust sympathizer
wyoming, 1873 c10
[2005, stentorian tapes]
buffalo, new york's, criminally unheard of locust sympathizer consists of benjamin hockenberry and christopher drysdale. benjamin had the nice looking bit rot reviews blog going on for like a month, but there hasn't been any action on that site in almost a year. you may also know him as burlapwax on last.fm. the duo incorporate some interesting, as well as
unique in their chosen field (noise), instrumentation including a banjo and an electric washtub bass. i love me same banjee, but sadly, i don't think it was employed on this here release.
seriously, how am i the first person to comment on how awesome this tape is!? crazy. all the better for me, i s'pose. the noise reviews blog, also mysteriously non-updated in quite some time, reviewed this twosome's john henry 3" cd-r and said something along the lines of it being the most annoying noise he's ever heard and that it 'made me want to kill myself'. keep in mind that these were both positive assessments. while i, unfortunately, cannot comment on how suicidally superb that disc was, since i've yet to hear it, i can say that this doesn't make me want to die, but it does make me want to listen over and over and over again. which is the greater compliment? eh eh... who knows, but i hold this tape in high regard.
wyoming, 1873 appears to be locust sympathizer's first release. how stentorian, all the way on the opposite side of the country, came to release this is beyond me. glad it happened though. the rocky mountain locust opens up the tape and there's that beautiful plugged in input jack sound that i love to hear (see the recent review for panicsville for more on that). there's some other noises added to this that i can't even call. pretty sure that they have either something to do with the washtub bass or maybe just the tub itself, but it's fantastic. as it gains some steam it gets progressively noisier, throw in some feedback, then back to repetitious sounds and back to noise again. my god this is beautiful. another nice thing that was mentioned in the john henry review was how locust sympathizer can be astonishingly harsh, but that they don't need thousands of effects pedals to pull it off. that rings true on this release as well. the last minute of the side when all the noise drops off and it's back to the catchy bit and hums, fine moments.
the second side's wyoming 1873 is far more brutal than what we were previously treated to. static and hums are barely perceptible over the sheer racket that they're producing. i think i can hear some guitar noise tossed in, too. ahh, now a feedback solo, i'm in heaven! there's some metal percussion that'll rudely interrupt said solo, then it's back to a full bore onslaught to finish things up. this is sweaty as hell. all i can say is that these dudes need to get famous so that i can sell this tape on ebay for major loot someday.
since this cassette is so out of print that the label doesn't even exist anymore, i'll do you a favor and upload side b. if you want the whole thing, you know where to find me. or maybe you don't, but some of you do.
Wyoming 1873
[2005, stentorian tapes]
buffalo, new york's, criminally unheard of locust sympathizer consists of benjamin hockenberry and christopher drysdale. benjamin had the nice looking bit rot reviews blog going on for like a month, but there hasn't been any action on that site in almost a year. you may also know him as burlapwax on last.fm. the duo incorporate some interesting, as well as
unique in their chosen field (noise), instrumentation including a banjo and an electric washtub bass. i love me same banjee, but sadly, i don't think it was employed on this here release.seriously, how am i the first person to comment on how awesome this tape is!? crazy. all the better for me, i s'pose. the noise reviews blog, also mysteriously non-updated in quite some time, reviewed this twosome's john henry 3" cd-r and said something along the lines of it being the most annoying noise he's ever heard and that it 'made me want to kill myself'. keep in mind that these were both positive assessments. while i, unfortunately, cannot comment on how suicidally superb that disc was, since i've yet to hear it, i can say that this doesn't make me want to die, but it does make me want to listen over and over and over again. which is the greater compliment? eh eh... who knows, but i hold this tape in high regard.
wyoming, 1873 appears to be locust sympathizer's first release. how stentorian, all the way on the opposite side of the country, came to release this is beyond me. glad it happened though. the rocky mountain locust opens up the tape and there's that beautiful plugged in input jack sound that i love to hear (see the recent review for panicsville for more on that). there's some other noises added to this that i can't even call. pretty sure that they have either something to do with the washtub bass or maybe just the tub itself, but it's fantastic. as it gains some steam it gets progressively noisier, throw in some feedback, then back to repetitious sounds and back to noise again. my god this is beautiful. another nice thing that was mentioned in the john henry review was how locust sympathizer can be astonishingly harsh, but that they don't need thousands of effects pedals to pull it off. that rings true on this release as well. the last minute of the side when all the noise drops off and it's back to the catchy bit and hums, fine moments.
the second side's wyoming 1873 is far more brutal than what we were previously treated to. static and hums are barely perceptible over the sheer racket that they're producing. i think i can hear some guitar noise tossed in, too. ahh, now a feedback solo, i'm in heaven! there's some metal percussion that'll rudely interrupt said solo, then it's back to a full bore onslaught to finish things up. this is sweaty as hell. all i can say is that these dudes need to get famous so that i can sell this tape on ebay for major loot someday.since this cassette is so out of print that the label doesn't even exist anymore, i'll do you a favor and upload side b. if you want the whole thing, you know where to find me. or maybe you don't, but some of you do.
Wyoming 1873
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
warmth
death as a young child c20
[2007, arbor]
warmth is the latest happening for holly, michigan's steev thompson, aka the artist formerly known as roxanne jean polise. steev's been warmth for awhile now, but i'm still bummed over the loss of one of noise music's best monikers. pour out a li'l liquor. the other big change of steev's is that his label, formerly x died enroute y, will be reborn as furnace musings. or as xdey's site says x (this record label) died enroute y (furnace musings). how convenient that name turned out to be, eh?
steev's always seemed to have a knack for thought-provoking or, at the very least, nice sounding names and titles and death as a young child ranks up there. there's a unique contrast of themes between death; the coldness, finality, bleakness, teamed up with a young child; innocence, naivety and jubilance. the idea of a playful little death running around is an interesting prospect.
now that the table's been adequately set, will steev actually follow through with and use the tape's title as an actual theme? i'd have to say, musically, yes he does do a good job of conjuring up appropriate mental imagery. on the first side he's staying really true to his current namesake. blissful tones abound and even as a slightly cloudy layer floats in after a few minutes, he manages to maintain the sunny disposition. overall, it's one of the more musical sounding pieces that i've heard from any of steev's projects (eh, carnival had some great musical structure to it, too). granted, this all synthy, but it's remarkably ethereal. on side b, death is no longer the delicate flower that it once was. the piece still has an airy feel, but that air has a little bitterness. the mid-section features a memorable synth passage that will, all too soon, fade quietly into the twilight. there's some very nice understated layering going on with the second side. if it were pushed up to the front it would be really noisy, but it's held waaaaay back and because of this it makes a great compliment to the piece's atmosphere, instead of shifting the focus away from it.
this cassette under the warmth name is a drastic departure from the overall rjp aesthetic. if i were to point out some polise albums that bear resemblance to what steev's doing here it would be the tired hours tape and michi-gone-again. while those were mellow in comparison, this has an even more refined quality to it that i'm really enjoying. interestingly enough roxanne jean polise's michi-gone-again was reissued as a warmth cassette on glamorous pat's lovely looking cherried-out merch. this was actually never originally released. it was supposed to be put out a few years back on chondritic, but that fell through, so while it's been circulating around the internet since 2005, it's only now been officially released on pat's label. but if you downloaded that version, the cherried out one is the same one, only now it's official like.
as i promised last week, this was a review from mike pollard's arbor (cdr) label. death as a young child was put out in an edition of 90 and there's still some copies left. steev's stuff doesn't stay in print for very long, though. just a forewarning for all the procrastinators out there.
Side B Excerpt (from 0:00 to 4:56)
[2007, arbor]
warmth is the latest happening for holly, michigan's steev thompson, aka the artist formerly known as roxanne jean polise. steev's been warmth for awhile now, but i'm still bummed over the loss of one of noise music's best monikers. pour out a li'l liquor. the other big change of steev's is that his label, formerly x died enroute y, will be reborn as furnace musings. or as xdey's site says x (this record label) died enroute y (furnace musings). how convenient that name turned out to be, eh?
steev's always seemed to have a knack for thought-provoking or, at the very least, nice sounding names and titles and death as a young child ranks up there. there's a unique contrast of themes between death; the coldness, finality, bleakness, teamed up with a young child; innocence, naivety and jubilance. the idea of a playful little death running around is an interesting prospect.now that the table's been adequately set, will steev actually follow through with and use the tape's title as an actual theme? i'd have to say, musically, yes he does do a good job of conjuring up appropriate mental imagery. on the first side he's staying really true to his current namesake. blissful tones abound and even as a slightly cloudy layer floats in after a few minutes, he manages to maintain the sunny disposition. overall, it's one of the more musical sounding pieces that i've heard from any of steev's projects (eh, carnival had some great musical structure to it, too). granted, this all synthy, but it's remarkably ethereal. on side b, death is no longer the delicate flower that it once was. the piece still has an airy feel, but that air has a little bitterness. the mid-section features a memorable synth passage that will, all too soon, fade quietly into the twilight. there's some very nice understated layering going on with the second side. if it were pushed up to the front it would be really noisy, but it's held waaaaay back and because of this it makes a great compliment to the piece's atmosphere, instead of shifting the focus away from it.
this cassette under the warmth name is a drastic departure from the overall rjp aesthetic. if i were to point out some polise albums that bear resemblance to what steev's doing here it would be the tired hours tape and michi-gone-again. while those were mellow in comparison, this has an even more refined quality to it that i'm really enjoying. as i promised last week, this was a review from mike pollard's arbor (cdr) label. death as a young child was put out in an edition of 90 and there's still some copies left. steev's stuff doesn't stay in print for very long, though. just a forewarning for all the procrastinators out there.
Side B Excerpt (from 0:00 to 4:56)
Monday, March 26, 2007
i/c/o/c & panicsville
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 se
ems 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)
[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 se
ems 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)
Sunday, March 25, 2007
medroxy progesterone acetate
supplications c78
[2007, black horizons]
for a guy who appears to be all over the internet, iowa's darren bauler manages to maintain a pretty low key profile. while i can find out what his musical interests are or his favorite books via friendster (friendster?! lolz), i can't seem to find out anything about his actual musical endeavors or why he named his project after provera. nothing shouts: "get ready for some fun!" quite like chemical compounds.
by design, i think that noise is supposed to give you a headache, and that you shouldn't first get a headache and then go listen to noise. regardless, i've had an annoying headache all weekend, bad for reviewing loud music, but i have work to do... so much work. while i'm on my way to becoming the first moron to overdose on excedrin, i won't let that serve as an impasse.
alright, the a-side opener the mars hill halfway house talent show sounds like it could actually be fun, but no, all the fun is being isolated to its title. while it's twenty-two minutes long, it's an outstanding first impression. this is along the lines of a haunting epic. it's paced really slowly, but darren opts not for eerie minimalism, but instead piles on complimentary layers (which he'll continue to do throughout supplications), some of which are panned to certain channels. it's all crafted rather remarkably. the inclusion of an oscillating ambiance which is punctuated sporadically by feedback will net bauler a gold star next to his name. there are some dynamics to it as it rolls along, more prevalent during the last half. corrupted mirror-trap is more minimal sounding. there's some nice static that gets briefly interrupted by a really nice musical piece, but then it's back to the static until the final minute. it's good. the groaned from beyond the grave vocals on they will never find my body are superb, thankfully, so to is the music itself.
going back to friendster, under darren's favorite tv shows 'test bars' was listed, and never is that more evident than on the second side's the hudson working (they see you with three eyes). it starts off with high pitched frequencies that could've been done by the emergency broadcast system itself. darren, you're killing my head right now. hudson is in a similar vein as the mars hill, nice use of layers, down-tempo mood but it lacks the creepier feeling that the other track gave me. the finale, melusine shoreline features the only attempt at rhythm, and it's a successful one. while it's processed to hell, maybe beneficially so, it's a solid component that gives it some staying power. great use of different channel layers as well as background ambiance.
black horizons has a real winner with this cassette (originally released back in 2004 in an edition of five). it's not outright noisy, the feedback and high pitches might make you reach for the volume knob, but that's about it. i loved mpa's layering, tonality and use of mood. supplications could be sinister at times, but really, it was seldom. you don't have to be into death industrial / dark ambient to appreciate medroxy progesterone acetate.
another visually pleasing tape from the label, too.
They Will Never Find My Body
[2007, black horizons]
for a guy who appears to be all over the internet, iowa's darren bauler manages to maintain a pretty low key profile. while i can find out what his musical interests are or his favorite books via friendster (friendster?! lolz), i can't seem to find out anything about his actual musical endeavors or why he named his project after provera. nothing shouts: "get ready for some fun!" quite like chemical compounds.
by design, i think that noise is supposed to give you a headache, and that you shouldn't first get a headache and then go listen to noise. regardless, i've had an annoying headache all weekend, bad for reviewing loud music, but i have work to do... so much work. while i'm on my way to becoming the first moron to overdose on excedrin, i won't let that serve as an impasse.alright, the a-side opener the mars hill halfway house talent show sounds like it could actually be fun, but no, all the fun is being isolated to its title. while it's twenty-two minutes long, it's an outstanding first impression. this is along the lines of a haunting epic. it's paced really slowly, but darren opts not for eerie minimalism, but instead piles on complimentary layers (which he'll continue to do throughout supplications), some of which are panned to certain channels. it's all crafted rather remarkably. the inclusion of an oscillating ambiance which is punctuated sporadically by feedback will net bauler a gold star next to his name. there are some dynamics to it as it rolls along, more prevalent during the last half. corrupted mirror-trap is more minimal sounding. there's some nice static that gets briefly interrupted by a really nice musical piece, but then it's back to the static until the final minute. it's good. the groaned from beyond the grave vocals on they will never find my body are superb, thankfully, so to is the music itself.
going back to friendster, under darren's favorite tv shows 'test bars' was listed, and never is that more evident than on the second side's the hudson working (they see you with three eyes). it starts off with high pitched frequencies that could've been done by the emergency broadcast system itself. darren, you're killing my head right now. hudson is in a similar vein as the mars hill, nice use of layers, down-tempo mood but it lacks the creepier feeling that the other track gave me. the finale, melusine shoreline features the only attempt at rhythm, and it's a successful one. while it's processed to hell, maybe beneficially so, it's a solid component that gives it some staying power. great use of different channel layers as well as background ambiance.
black horizons has a real winner with this cassette (originally released back in 2004 in an edition of five). it's not outright noisy, the feedback and high pitches might make you reach for the volume knob, but that's about it. i loved mpa's layering, tonality and use of mood. supplications could be sinister at times, but really, it was seldom. you don't have to be into death industrial / dark ambient to appreciate medroxy progesterone acetate.another visually pleasing tape from the label, too.
They Will Never Find My Body