i have a wealth of newish discs der nederlands cut hands.

mapping a burial
[2007, cut hands]

i've seen tusco terror's name around (mostly i remember them from the hanson underground series), but i'm pretty unfamiliar with them, overall. it looks like they're a four-piece out of akron, ohio: ben, nathan, russ and stoney. that's about the sum of what i could dig up on 'em, outside of gossip via noisebloid.

i'm digging this release quite a bit. tusco terror have turned out to be pleasingly hard to pin down into one or even a couple styles. while i'd imagine that they'll strike most ears as merely being noise, i'd give 'em the broad descriptor of experimental. mostly, because i'm lazy. really though, there's a lot more going on within their music and nothing on mapping a burial is grating, at all. throughout this disc, which spans twenty-two minutes in four tracks, these guys will incorporate tape manipulations, guitar noise, sporadic rhythmic percussion (not from drums, though), vocal noise in addition to various electronic instrumentation. the results of which make for a more unique listening experience than your average noise disc, and you've gotta appreciate that.
i love the rhythmic pounding that opens up map a burial. it made me think of old coffin makers, deliberately hammering away on a new pine box. the title probably put that into my head, but whatever. it works. that gets ditched rather quickly as they'll progress into a bit of minimalism with random guitar noise at first, and then some nice electronic buzzing (which kind of stays with me, despite the fact that it's used so little). the latter portion of this seven minute track is what really does it for me: awesome analog (tape, i'm assuming) manipulations, guitar noise, feedback and rad staggering electronics towards the end. the manipulations are killer and they'll provide most of my favorite moments during this cd. beat a dog will feature actual guitar strumming (just random strums), sounds like there's a bass in the mix, too. while that will set-up a spacey (like in your head) feel, there's a noisier element declaring its dominance over the top of it. fuck if i know what it is. someone trying to eat a live microphone, maybe. the track will continue like that for awhile, with the noise coming and going, but the end of it has the guys rocking out a little bit more with some legitimate riffs. smashed psych is really clangy with plenty of metal on metal noises combined with great plodding electric guitars. the effect of faster noise and methodical guitar playing makes for a weird, but nice, counterbalance. once the dissonant aspect wears off, it's left to the guitars, nice feedback and slow vocal (chant-like) intonation, a more sensible musical grouping. the last track, rags (cut hands mix) is mapping a burial's best showcase of tusco terror's different facets. it's nothing that we haven't heard before from them, it's just that everything's more memorable. it starts off with their standard sporadic guitar noise, but that will briefly gel into a real catchy riff that's finished with damn near as quickly as it started. then it's into terrific feedback which is remarkably catchy as well. i'm digging the revving synth towards the conclusion. that brings me to the sole downer of this cd. it ends.

Rags (Cut Hands Mix)

tusco terror live (this video is shite as far as visuals go, but the audio's a-ok).

hello there, little ghost c15
[2007, dreamtime taped sounds]

this tape, by brussel's bram (or miles) devens, is dedicated to his newborn son, casper. i haven't decided whether i think the tape's title is humorous or tragic. ha. maybe a little of both.
out of the two sides, hello there, little ghost is easily my favorite track. gentle reverb wraps up the music and the vocals. the singing is muffled beyond recognition, taking the focus away from lyrics and towards the affected tonality. superficially, it adds to the already (warm) haunting aura of the song. there's a fantastic little dynamic between the soft electric guitar playing while bram's singing and the change to a pedal-driven squall, then back to unaffected, and so on. that really makes for the song's hook, so to speak. after mustering up a wall of guitar noise, towards the end of the side, devens' train of thought jumps tracks (or maybe continents) and we find ourselves dancing on the beach to a sunny, two and a half minute long, tropical jam. weird, but wonderful.
slumber with great peace does a nice job of not betraying its restful title. there's still a little bit of treatment to the vocals, but the words are far more distinguished than on the preceding side. that's combined with slow guitar playing and the white noise ambiance of bram's buzzing amplifier. it's lovely meditative music. while i'm mostly drawn in by the immediacy of hello there, this was a very nice cassette.

Slumber With Great Peace

ignatz @ slak; cheltenham, gloucestershire, uk

collaboration (one-sided) 12"
[2007, ultra eczema]

lots of belgian love on this release. prior to even getting the record out of the sleeve there's great artwork by ultra eczema boss dennis tyfus. seriously, this shit is nice. the lp's housed in a six panel fold out which features creepy monster heads in black and white on one side, and then a colorful, 24" x 36" poster of a monster performing a c section on a scary looking pregnant woman in the woods, surrounded by little blobby creatures. awesome. unfortunately, prior to even getting the record in my apartment, i managed to spill coffee on it, ha. tragic. one piece of art that i didn't manage to fuck up yet was the terrific etching on the b side. i'm keeping my fingers crossed. the other belgian on this release is cassis cornuta. a cassis cornuta is a type of shell, the person in question here is daniel renders. i'd been unfamiliar with him up until this point, but it seems like he's a pretty important figure in belgium's avant-garde scene, having been involved in music since, at least, the '70s. birth refusal are michiganites john olson and mike connelly.hell. yes. if i could live with myself for writing a review that short, that's all i'd say. forget about the fact that you (most likely) have never heard of cornuta. i don't know what he's bringing to the table, but whatever it is, this collaboration is musical feng shui to these ears.

i'm real happy that the creepiness of tyfus' artwork is also present in audio form. shit, it's not just present, it's standing inches away from your face talking to you incessantly. i don't mind, though. right from the jump, this thing oozes out of the speakers like sludge. there's plenty of layers of sound as well as good channel panning. incidentally, there's a baritone synth sound that's similar to the one that i loved from warmth's record, so that makes me even happier. initially, everything's kind of like terror ambiance with rad synth-work leading the charge. all around it are swirling sounds, like the wind, as well as high pitched tones and drones. then a nice skittery track and one of malevolent noise join in. i really can't say enough about the layering job that these three are doing because there's so many awesome sounds to hone in on, there's never a stagnant moment; completely engrossing.
this isn't all gloom and doom (pretty fucking close) as the trio will kick up a bit of noise every so often. they won't overdo it, after all, how can you build tension if the whole record is all climax? it's not possible, and because of that, the noise, when it comes, is that much sweeter. it's also in character. given the pacing and care towards texturing, they won't blow the whole fucking thing up with heavy-handed dissonance. as methodical as every other aspect has been, so to is the noise; it unexpectedly shoots up from the depths. while it's forceful enough to briefly oppress, it enhances its surroundings, instead of crushing them under fist.

i can't end the review without giving a special mention to the killer call and response between lower and higher synth tones at around the ten minute mark. it's even better when it's combined with the bassy echoed throbs at around thirteen minutes. oh, then there's the rhythmic tone work in the background close to the conclusion...

i don't know if you've been paying attention, but folks from the wolf eyes camp have been tearin' shit up in 2007: connelly and sick llama's stoned nuisance, dilloway and spencer yeh's squid 12", olson and dilloway's baked beans, brains and spiders 7" and cd-r and now this record. in a year where fans of noise music have been privy to an inside game of can you top this? from these dudes, this record coolly fires back with "no, you can't." trust me, that statement extends a hell of a lot further than merely ann arbor.

Collaboration (Excerpt) (from 7:55 to 10:04)