KSNK - Murska CD (Freak Animal, 2023)
Well, I didn't see this coming after that first CD which compiled a couple of early recordings. That CD, while also quite original, filed itself at some crossing inbetween rugged industrial and power electronics. The kinship between that material and Murska is there, but Murska is still something completely different. Straight up audio documentation of rock- and stone-crushing machinery doing its job. I'm not sure if these recordings were processed or tampered with in any way, but if they were it was with a very light hand. Doesn't matter, really, as the recordings are so rich with depth and detail that I can't think of what to add or change. Jeph Jerman's two albums for WCN cone to mind, as does the brilliant TNB - First Live Performance LP on VOD. What sets Murska apart from those the most though isn't the lack of obvious rearranging or tampering, but the lack of tension. As I wrote, it's machinery doing its job. In a way, you could compare this to one of those slow, barely or completely unnarrated TV documentaries about an industry which might be on its last waltz (at least in our part of the world) - harbours, factories, technical maintenance and whatever. This record serves that documentary purpose to me. Very matter of fact. And beautiful for being just that. Heartfelt even, for those of us who used to work under rather unsanitary conditions with old machines just a couple of decades ago. Gives me flashbacks to downing that first cup of awful coffee and starting up some highly unsafe and outdated press machine, watching it chomp and chop away for hours. Lovely album.
