A few tapes from the ODAL 1983-1986 boxed set I borrowed from a friend:
'POSITIVE SOUNDSCULPTURES'
What at low volume sounded like wild apes in a cage, but when turned up is sawing wood against metal, or something similar. Small parts of this sound like a DX7 that's been done up the arse. There's what appears to be loops of objects sped up & down. Someone breathing over a PA with lapel mic left on but not saying anything? Gradually becomes more chaotic but rebuilds again where it began. Rather thin & stripped down but still has a great deal of power. There's an imposing loop of what sounds like a large whip at the end of the B side that gradually turns into something heavier.Tactile atmosphere, hence the title I imagine.
NIHILIST DOGS
Begins with the infamous Con-Dom loop (the release on which it appears i've somehow forgotten). Not sure which way around it worked there, or maybe i've got that wrong. There's what sounds like number station transmissions, but layered with other unspecified noises & pitched down voices, quite eerie. More loops appear, some more aggro than others. It's near impossible to put your finger on what any of the source sounds are, or what they're getting at.They gradually degrade into nothing. There's one piece of a piano (or possibly digital synth?) which I found rather annoying. That didn't last long though. Whilst some of the loops gradually degrade, some build up and then disappear. The B side starts with yet more unidentifiable noise with crude industrial rhythms layered underneath it. More crazed loops follow. Possibly synths, but it's just as likely it isn't. There's some quite bizarre modulating sounds, some that are just unnerving & awkward, that again the origins of which are very hard to pin down. The only thing I think I can make out on the B side is these aforementioned dogs growling or white noise with envelope editing, but that loop turns into something else and disintegrates , so could be something else entirely. There's a human voice pitched down at the end of one loop, but it's hard to tell if it's in pain or pleasure. It's quite clear to hear a similar tone to other projects of the same era, i'm not sure if it's voices modulating, or what, but there was clearly an element of the intentionally unidentifiable in that era of noise and industrial, but this might be also due to the limitations of certain recording equipment, or just the muddiness of older tapes, less than ideal recording circumstances etc.
'BLACK'
Cut ups that sound like they're being made live somehow of classical music, interspersed with rough pulses of feedback, voices breaking through (?), all covered by the 80s murky noise tape atmosphere. Crunching and hissing, with distant buzzes and ripping noises. Think there's voices buried in there somewhere? Followed by....Loops of what sounds like a hands on tactile approach with different metal objects or similar, something like a factory floor or conveyor belt, but colder.
'BODY & SOUL'
Grinding synths and feedback manipulation, mixed with short-wave type radio noise. Ping pong / square wave modular synth type moments that constantly change. Rather abrasive and pumping.Then, Roaring & distant pink noise with something ominous going on underneath with fast feedback changes, possibly flange. Becomes very rotten at times. Gradually changes to spacey radio static again. Broken morse code type messages? Stuttering rough sequenced synths reappear.Whooping / hooping synths . Driving and hard pulsing. Distant synths then appear with something that sounds like it's being hit quite hard. More feedback and modulation interferes. Extremely cold. Sample and hold modular sounds with delay appears along with some kind of loop of what sounds like a small metal object clacking.
'THE CHOICE OF A NEW GENERATION ' 1 + 2
A side of the first tape is a long one of a constant loop of the same pulse, but with changes. It's unrelenting, and just keeps going the whole way. Sounds like layered synth or electronics put through a small amp but turned right up. B side begins with minimalist bleeps & signals that gradually modulate , degrade ,deform, crumble, reform themselves and then disintegrate again.The B side is punctuated at the end with an eerie whining electronic tone. The second tape begins with modulating electronics, and what sounds like tape speed manipulation, layered underneath with what sounds like moving physical objects, but it's impossible to define what they are. One of them sounds like the engine of a small outboard motor slowed right down. Some more like lathes or objects in a machine room. B Side of the second shorter tape starts with what appears to be someone struggling with a microphone whilst they're attempting to bundle someone into the boot of a car. Physical objects like metals & stones are layered and pitched up or down. Fluid of unknown description slurps down pipes, and there's definitely voices in there.
AGAINST HUMANITY
Starts with what might be a very dead sounding air flu expelling gas. A similar piece follows, but with a very simple loop underneath. Next is a crunching wall of noise but with rough synth tones breaking through underneath. Driven very much into the red, are what sound like radio voices coming via an external-in but can't be sure. Feedback gradually breaks through & all becomes a bit more chaotic until it slowly pours itself down the drain. The B side is signature Odal. Bonkers loops and chaotic sounding movie samples.Some sound like they've just been recorded more than once, some perhaps triggered with a sampler? Some of them mixed with a synth? More unidentifiable loops and field recordings follow, some sound like fireworks or breaking glass. Some more ominous. There's one loop that sounds like a pair of mechanical lungs gasping for a last breath of air.There is nothing positive about this tape, it is very much Against Humanity!
Will continue listening...
