PACIFIC 231

[FreakAnimalFinland]

latest news:

1983-86 - 2 x CD - Digipack
Studio & Live Compendium
Tesco/Functional (Germany)
>> Xmas 2009 >>

Pacific 231 & Lt. Caramel - Limited Edition - Black Vinyl
Just Digging The Crazy Art
Rotorelief (France)
>> Available >>


I recall I placed advance order for the LTD vinyl (some pretty nasty 100 or 150 copies rip off priced), but haven't got the invoice for it yet. Or maybe I didn't I know Lt. Caramel is leeching on a lot of cult names to get his limited vinyls sold for double price. Anyways, To be waited.

What would be the best of Pacific 231?

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Just went through "Unusual Perversions" LP
It is very good old school industrial noise. Presentation of b/w sleeve with simply white dominated atmosphere. Just some black text, rought images of naked female upper body (say: tits).
Few tracks remind of something like early days Esplendor Geometrico. Simply raw noise beats of loops. Occasionally primitivism of sound gets really high. Uniqiue when you compare to material of today. Includes contributions from Die Form too. This is what I like the best in industrial-noise/pe whatever: Tracks are different from eachother. It's not just improvised jam. It's not like all songs just start and stop like rock album, working on same range of sounds and tools on each track.
Some tracks can be fast paced electronic pulse/beat, drilling synth and nearly synth-goth muzak oriented vocalizing. Like vintage version of lated days Haus Arafna. Suddenly changed into wild electronic oscillating with heavily processed vocals. Next crushing loops and heavily delay echoes shouting. Transferring to something almost like oldest of Ramleh recording with fierce feedback, humming machinery on back, screamy vocals.
One can always appreciate songs like Ultra Body with hoarse "screaming" over heavy distortion. Or Pedophilia, with beat nearly like GO's "elders of zion", high pitched electronic torture should be familiar for example those loving N12 "holiday" and looped high pitched girl cries.  Dance baby!! Essential industrial.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

2nd LP "Power Assume" from 1986 is already another deal. Cover is nice. Super "anti-design" approach. Just silver spray stencil text of album name on back, copper metal plate with P231 hammered on it with large letters. Back side with bronze spray stencil text of track titles. Inside small xerox pasted on. Cover is black tar paper or whatever you call it? Used also in Chop Shop 7", Chop Shop steel plate 2x10" etc. Overall presentation is like some kind of warehouse box for industrial product. Not nice at all, but because of that.. well, nice.

Music however, as said is another deal. Band proceeded much closer to darker and deeper ambient realms. It has some vocal howling through flanger, depressive humming and such, but raw edge is not here anymore, and the although the it is far from hi-fi sweet or new age'ish synth ambient, it's hard to rate is as highly as debute. It's partly studio, partly live. Worth to get, but not worth paying any severe collectors prices.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Pacific 231  / Denier Du Culte -LP
from 1989 on Dedali Opera label, which otherwise was doing only tapes?
Only information about this, one can find from central labels of LP.
According to discogs, it would be

A Pacific 231 (2)  -  Untitled   ( Featuring - Lieutenant Caramel  )
B1 Denier Du Culte  -  Untitled   
B2 Denier Du Culte  -  Untitled   
B3 Denier Du Culte  -  Untitled

But when I read the label text myself, I think that's inaccurate information.
I get impression this whole thing is collaboration of  P231 & DDC, involving some other collaborators. PErhaps because of P231, but maybe even more thanks to Denier Du Culte, sound is more towards electro-acoustic / experimental nature. Sound collage is pretty good, though. I can't much give credit to free jazz drumming on few moments of side, but the mix of rhythm, sound collage, voice loops, tape manipulations, field recordings etc is very good. The more I listen to it, more I like it. Cutting of vinyl is great, and the stereo effects and layering really work with perfect clarity and very nice equalization. Perhaps lovers of french electro acoustic will find this album more appealing than those waiting for early days industrial domination.

B-side has 3 shorter tracks, where 1st one seems like logical continuation of A-side, and then 2nd one enters to darker realms. Deep humming , creaking (doors?), suffocating human voices with slow long delay effect making it nearly as loop. Screams, gasping air, growls. Tortured violing strings making anti-music.

Last track has metal/drum cumbal percussions, some sort of simply wind instruments. Could it be even kazoo whistle? Human voice howls, tape manipulations, very drastic dynamic changes on sound. While layers of echoing sounds float deep down, suddenly you may be assaulted with utmost unmusical drum percussion. Not really percussion at all, just like someone would hit clean uneffected drum set while others try to make experimental ambient on background and some guy thinks kazoo whistles is cool musical instrument and decides to ruin if for everybody. Well, just the insanity of the track is something I do appreciate. When put in contect. Be album completely like the last track, it would be probably horrible. Now, it seems to have some logic. Little. But still some.

Not much of old releases exist besides of these, except tapes. I think I wait for the Tesco re-issue CD set, maybe some good tape materials will be there?

[guitarlover]

If you used the drum set in the right way then you will get the best sound track.

[Goat93]

I like mostlly Thule Apocalypse. Great 1 Track CD
I have also 2 Tapes, Sachlichkeit and T.L.J, both are good either, but i think Pacific 231 is best on Compilation Tracks than an whole Album.

[Tarker Mills]

Ya..UNUSUAL PERVERSIONS is one of my favorite "industrial" records ever!  YEr description is pretty  dead on

there is a CDr version available out on LADD-FRITH with a super lame new cover..  the original cover is SO CLASSIC!  Why would they do that!?

[acsenger]

I'm just listening to the Onanism 657Hz tape which was recorded in 2011. It's really good, rather dark electronic music with some electroacoustic touch. From this thread, it seems Unusual Perversions is a must-have; too bad it's so expensive. Has anyone heard the 1983-86 Compendium 2CD?

It seems like a reissue of their early tapes would be a good idea (assuming they're good). Maybe we'll see a Vinyl-on-Demand box one day?

[FreakAnimalFinland]

1983-86 Compendium is good, but certainly not great. One would expect (because of era) it to be somewhere in level on Unusual Perversion, but this material is far less. One disc studio, one disc live. Studio disc has a lot of early works where things seem like 2 track recording, you know, one thing happening on left channel, other thing on right channel. None of the same force & focus like on debut album.

That all said, if someone is into primitive industrial noise, it's not bad item to buy. Band just never was a great as on debut LP.

[acsenger]

Thanks. I hope there will be a proper reissue of the debut LP then.

[fin de siècle]

Band just never was a great as on debut LP.

... which will be re-released by Tesco under the Archaic Documents banner in the near future, as far as I am informed ...

[acsenger]

Unusual Perversions was re-released on LP earlier this year by Rotorelief. I listened to it twice lately, and while it's obvious it's an industrial noise classic, I personally find it quite dated too, but then classic industrial has mostly never really been my thing. Still, it's good to have this album. My only complaint would be about the cover: while the uniform covers of Rotorelief's series of classic French industrial music look good, a reproduction of the original cover would've been nice on a separate insert. I've noticed the lack of the original cover/artwork with other labels and reissues too, and it's always baffling to me.