Grunt - Kiveen Ikuistettu (Freak Animal Records)
Time to dust off some old reading material. This book has a CD too, so I guess I'm listening to that.
Jokes aside, really enjoyed this one. Feels like a proper companion piece to Karike, presenting a similar sound palette of raw metal exploration butting heads with pulsing mixer feedback. The latter never overwhelms as much as it does on the aforementioned Karike, but rather adds a fine flavoring atop the main sound of clangs and bangs. Vocals and classical sampling are used sparingly as well, but with my mind so focused on what Mikko achieves with his metal work, they did not register as clearly as I thought. Biggest surprise of the entire disc is that these pieces were all live! Did not notice that at time of purchase or in reading the book. Very impressive sets then, and the sound of ~5 people clapping in an audience is as noise as it gets.
Kyle Flanagan - Mind Eraser (FTAM)
After the new WCN interview properly infected my brain yesterday, I dedicated a huge chunk of my listening to revisiting some of the old Flanagan collection I have around the house. I have just about every release the man has put out by now, and that doesn't make picking out which ones to spin that easy. My impulses tend to make me lean towards the self-released stuff, but this one stuck with me in the selection process. It's short and sweet, registering in at just about 10 minutes; pretty much the opposite of the psychedelic expansion sound that WCN touched on.
Nonetheless, it is so much better than I remembered. A Side is met with massive layers of churning feedback and scrap metal rumble all collide at once, presenting an active but unbreakable wall of sound. The best moment comes when what sounds like a vocal loop peaks through towards the end, yelping like some maniac smashing shit at the house party. Brilliant stuff. Side B begins with more lowkey scrap clangs, but eventually reaches a similar fever pitch to Side A. It's all very brilliant stuff, and shows that the best noisemakers can often bring the might on both short and long form recordings.
If anyone in the EU is interested in grabbing a tape, I just saw the label still has copies for sale. Highly recommend dropping the money on it.
Kyle Flanagan - Cut Behind Another Fence (self-released)
Had this one sitting next to the boombox for about a week, so in it goes. Reached out to the artist about it and come to find out that I am maybe one of two people who owns it? Hah. I picked this up in the Dead Gods storefront, so I surely thought there would be more copies. Guess not... world's loss, my win.
This tape though exemplifies what was so great about the Flanagan of this time though. Tape is a single-sided jam, coming with a homemade, painted j-card cut from some paper that I can't really name. It's got weight to it, but the paint gives it some smooth texture and freakish, mutated art. Make a release by any means necessary! I love it.
On the sound front, this one certainly feels like a "turn the synths on and hit record" style release. Things naturally evolve, with different motifs growing and decaying at their preferred pace. While some people spend all their time working on meticulous edits, Kyle shines at his best with just playing for the moment. And with that in mind, it's not hard to become even more envious of his style, as being able to make recordings of this quality through just feeling alone is something special.
Kyle Flanagan - Nightmare (Small Mercies)
Fistfuck's description of this one being "bad trip" material is very apt! Tried falling asleep with this one on and just couldn't. The high-end synth stabs invoke imagery of some devilish spirit dancing around your mind. You can't just shut your eyes and drift off here. Something is always grabbing your attention in this slow-burning lull. It scratches at your mind, hope you don't go insane.
