Friday, February 01, 2008
bran(...)pos
coin-op khepri
[2007, c.i.p.]
alright, let's stay inside the brutal sfx camp for this release by san francisco's bran(...)pos (jake rodriguez).
fun fact: khepri is a sun god. supposedly the dawning sun. isn't ra the sun god? don't get me started. i knew i should've snagged that egyptology book out of the dumpster behind work... anyway, the track titles on this release are chock full of egyptian references that i'm too lazy to google. thankfully, you don't need to know shit about the egyptians or their mythology to dig this release.
coin-op is an interesting step away from the darker bsfx sound that i've come to (perhaps falsely) identify with. the breadth of the disc (from buoyancy, field recordings, organic instrumentation to experimental electronics) brings to mind hans grüsel's krankenkabinet's happy as pitch cd, which, coincidentally, was also released by blake edwards.
appropriately, the disc begins with the sound of a coin being put into a slot, serving as our introduction to eye of horus: open the mouth, place your bets. this one's fucking weird, but great. it's a foggy dirge. picture a death boat slowly drifting down the nile, abetted by a slow drum rhythm, organ synth, (far) eastern strings and slowed down vocals. it's like satan channeling tom waits. love, love, love it.
1-armed yank with sekhem em (aka anubis, alright, so i googled this one, too) is a near 180 from the first track. there's a real lightness provided by the cheesy (in a fun way) synth and drum machine foundation. it gets even sillier with the robo-voice greeting us and providing guidance. the trippy experimental electronic noise fluttering about won't undermine the playfulness of 1-armed yank.
when bran(...)pos eschews the theme-y kitsch and detours into levity, the results are great. the first of which is on pylon 21. this a focused piece of electronic noise that fits in more with his peers, albeit, sans the gloom and doom. foreign electronic sounds that won't hurt your ears, but that sound interesting. there's some nice use of static and phasing during the latter bit, too.
from there it's back to the whimsy for the fifty-seven seconds of inseguimento degli spirit. this is one of the spots where it reminded me of krankenkabinet's lighter side. it's cheerful, it's silly, it's less than a minute long. perfect.
the sounds of someone playing a slot machine open up an-mit's odds. this one... not so shiny and happy. the noise (and i do mean noise, this time) is more oppressive and impressive. i really liked how pos continued utilizing the slot machine samples as an undercurrent. in the first half of the track there was a larger sense of space and dynamics between the sample and the noise, but eventually, the gap would close as the two intertwined and worked off of each other.
archival rodeo at the gambling hall of double rights and truths is a return to coin-op's structured songs. yeah, it's still weird (just meaning unconventional), but there's a bit of form and rhythm again. the catchy electronic and (faint) guitar driven track is occasionally punctuated by affected vocals that are sped up a little this time. the choppy delivery of them towards the end produces a nice effect. i can't make out a damn word other than the last one, "sun", which repeats a few times before fading away. damn, i bet this had something to do with the theme.
another nice straight-faced effort is turned in with spherical harmonics. experimental electronics through and through, but there's considerable evolution occuring within the track. it begins with high pitch / low pitch call and response amidst clunking background noise, metal clinking and other random electronic disturbances. the call and response bit will fade out of the foreground, the clunking noise will change form a few times until it sounds like amplified scissors and the whole track will subtly shift into something more along the lines of an electronic soundscape, replete with a nice looping background drone. expect even more changes to this six minute track before it will eventually wear itself out of existence.
at fourteen and a half minutes long, nephthys' nightboat is coin-op's glorious epic. just like all long ass tracks should, this one keeps you guessing. it begins with field recordings (it sounds just like you'd think nephthys' nightboat would sound like, right down to the creaking wood) and pleasantly tapped out percussion. that last part will die off after two short minutes and we're left with the recordings, made all too creepy by that creaky sound. four minutes later we start to get some bleeps and blips as a denser sound (conjuring up the image of swift moving rapids or a waterfall) builds up its sonic presence, as it does, it will go from sounding like water to something more mechanical, like a loud idling motor. once at this point, the recordings are gone as pos shies away from the organic nature of the onset. instead of just relying purely on ambiance, like i thought he might, he'll finish out the last four minutes with a really memorable synth loop.
last, but not least, is cumulo-nimble shuffle into the sekheta-hetepet payout. shuffle is a good word for this song. it has some snazzy jazz percussion, droning organ synth, a bouncy bassline, xylophone (methinks) and only the slightest touches of electronic experimentation. it sends out coin-op khepri on a really nice note, the sort of conclusion that makes you want to listen to it again, rather than being glad that it's over.
i was completely taken by surprise with this release as it was definitely more musical than i was expecting. at the same time, there's enough experimentation and occasional discord to keep the scales from tipping too much in favor of accessibility. anyway, this was a really rad disc. i enjoyed all of the variation (and there was a lot of it) and the way that it never felt forced or like something was out of place.
1-Armed Yank with Sekhem Em
Bran(...)Pos @ The Lab, San Francisco; May 20th, 2006
[2007, c.i.p.]
alright, let's stay inside the brutal sfx camp for this release by san francisco's bran(...)pos (jake rodriguez).
fun fact: khepri is a sun god. supposedly the dawning sun. isn't ra the sun god? don't get me started. i knew i should've snagged that egyptology book out of the dumpster behind work... anyway, the track titles on this release are chock full of egyptian references that i'm too lazy to google. thankfully, you don't need to know shit about the egyptians or their mythology to dig this release.
coin-op is an interesting step away from the darker bsfx sound that i've come to (perhaps falsely) identify with. the breadth of the disc (from buoyancy, field recordings, organic instrumentation to experimental electronics) brings to mind hans grüsel's krankenkabinet's happy as pitch cd, which, coincidentally, was also released by blake edwards.appropriately, the disc begins with the sound of a coin being put into a slot, serving as our introduction to eye of horus: open the mouth, place your bets. this one's fucking weird, but great. it's a foggy dirge. picture a death boat slowly drifting down the nile, abetted by a slow drum rhythm, organ synth, (far) eastern strings and slowed down vocals. it's like satan channeling tom waits. love, love, love it.
1-armed yank with sekhem em (aka anubis, alright, so i googled this one, too) is a near 180 from the first track. there's a real lightness provided by the cheesy (in a fun way) synth and drum machine foundation. it gets even sillier with the robo-voice greeting us and providing guidance. the trippy experimental electronic noise fluttering about won't undermine the playfulness of 1-armed yank.
when bran(...)pos eschews the theme-y kitsch and detours into levity, the results are great. the first of which is on pylon 21. this a focused piece of electronic noise that fits in more with his peers, albeit, sans the gloom and doom. foreign electronic sounds that won't hurt your ears, but that sound interesting. there's some nice use of static and phasing during the latter bit, too.
from there it's back to the whimsy for the fifty-seven seconds of inseguimento degli spirit. this is one of the spots where it reminded me of krankenkabinet's lighter side. it's cheerful, it's silly, it's less than a minute long. perfect.the sounds of someone playing a slot machine open up an-mit's odds. this one... not so shiny and happy. the noise (and i do mean noise, this time) is more oppressive and impressive. i really liked how pos continued utilizing the slot machine samples as an undercurrent. in the first half of the track there was a larger sense of space and dynamics between the sample and the noise, but eventually, the gap would close as the two intertwined and worked off of each other.
archival rodeo at the gambling hall of double rights and truths is a return to coin-op's structured songs. yeah, it's still weird (just meaning unconventional), but there's a bit of form and rhythm again. the catchy electronic and (faint) guitar driven track is occasionally punctuated by affected vocals that are sped up a little this time. the choppy delivery of them towards the end produces a nice effect. i can't make out a damn word other than the last one, "sun", which repeats a few times before fading away. damn, i bet this had something to do with the theme.
another nice straight-faced effort is turned in with spherical harmonics. experimental electronics through and through, but there's considerable evolution occuring within the track. it begins with high pitch / low pitch call and response amidst clunking background noise, metal clinking and other random electronic disturbances. the call and response bit will fade out of the foreground, the clunking noise will change form a few times until it sounds like amplified scissors and the whole track will subtly shift into something more along the lines of an electronic soundscape, replete with a nice looping background drone. expect even more changes to this six minute track before it will eventually wear itself out of existence.
at fourteen and a half minutes long, nephthys' nightboat is coin-op's glorious epic. just like all long ass tracks should, this one keeps you guessing. it begins with field recordings (it sounds just like you'd think nephthys' nightboat would sound like, right down to the creaking wood) and pleasantly tapped out percussion. that last part will die off after two short minutes and we're left with the recordings, made all too creepy by that creaky sound. four minutes later we start to get some bleeps and blips as a denser sound (conjuring up the image of swift moving rapids or a waterfall) builds up its sonic presence, as it does, it will go from sounding like water to something more mechanical, like a loud idling motor. once at this point, the recordings are gone as pos shies away from the organic nature of the onset. instead of just relying purely on ambiance, like i thought he might, he'll finish out the last four minutes with a really memorable synth loop.last, but not least, is cumulo-nimble shuffle into the sekheta-hetepet payout. shuffle is a good word for this song. it has some snazzy jazz percussion, droning organ synth, a bouncy bassline, xylophone (methinks) and only the slightest touches of electronic experimentation. it sends out coin-op khepri on a really nice note, the sort of conclusion that makes you want to listen to it again, rather than being glad that it's over.
i was completely taken by surprise with this release as it was definitely more musical than i was expecting. at the same time, there's enough experimentation and occasional discord to keep the scales from tipping too much in favor of accessibility. anyway, this was a really rad disc. i enjoyed all of the variation (and there was a lot of it) and the way that it never felt forced or like something was out of place.
1-Armed Yank with Sekhem Em
