Hands To - Vinhilation (from a split lp with Eric Lunde, '89)
My first exposure to Mr Jerman's work, and the first impression was a very good one. However, as Dan Burke is credited both with gear and final mix I've often thought To place these particular Hands under Burke's far-reaching Illusion Of Safety umbrella. And it does indeed sound rather more polished and sedate, as befits a Mixmaster Burke working-over, than Hands proper. Grainy atmospheric fields roiling through one another in a somewhat sinister, subliminal haze, plus some fairly white-sheeted blasting for a good full middle interval - or, as it says in the sleeve notes, "Headphones are not recommended". (Note that the actual point of Vinhilation does not arrive until the platter is almost played out, so no worries there.) Discogs tells me this has been reissued with an early-collected-works thingy called Myasic, which looks kinda tempting.
Vinhilation had the misfortune of being simul-released (also apparently simul-recorded) with the one-shot wonder that was HOLEIST (on a split with Illusion Of Safety). Personnel were Jeph Jerman, Dan Burke, Eric Lunde. Holeist was a revelation at the time, and in fact enjoyed quite a lot of airplay on the Toronto college stations - the incredible "Soileth" in particular. "Worked out in alternating shifts by Jerman, Burke, Lunde", it sounds exactly that: brief concentrations on densely packed sound events, each separated by distinct silent intervals (or shifts). This manages to sound far more "industrial strength" than Hands To, Illusion of Safety, and Eric Lunde combined: really a full-on fully fleshed-out plunging into gaping, bellowing, flesh-less, hell-hole. "It would seem that my whole life is an endless exchange with HOLES."
Pardon me, would love to say more, but speaking of endless exchanges with holes I think it's about time to get vinhilated.
