Scar Crowe s/t C20 (Self Abuse)
Two side-long pieces of pretty eerie (pleasant if you ask me) tape music/musique concrete based off of field recordings (of fuck knows what; wind? A pier on a lake? A graveyard??) from Patrick of Skin Crime/Self Abuse. Good shit! It actually reminds me of an *ahem,* extremely familiar project at times, mostly because of the layered textural tape crunch where specific frequencies stand out. Both tracks are effectively two parts of one piece; sounds like perhaps it was recorded with a Walkman or other cassette portable, then dubbed to ½-inch reel-to-reel for the best possible variation in frequencies, but I really don't know. Sounds like it could be straight to one track, or perhaps a couple layers, again, hard to say; that's the beauty of this kind of stuff and why I'm a sucker for obscure, atmospheric tape sounds derived from who-the-fuck-knows. Maybe this would appeal to fans of the Swedish tape stuff, or the US tape project Remnants? Pick this one up.
Scar Crowe "A Cold Night's Death" C20 (Self Abuse)
Another pair of side-long atmospheric tracks of the same duration as the above, but with a more processed feel; I can hear a little reverb effect on a background loop, as well as some really subtle sub-bass drones that lie underneath some interesting (unidentifiable, as it should be) clattering/shifting sounds that make for musique concrete...except dead. Depressing. The first side reminds me of certain ambient sections from "apocalyptic folk" acoustic guitarist Richard A. Bosse, and that's a good thing. After some minutes, a very nice reverberating drone loop kicks in underneath the clatter and for a moment cycles alone before the sort of hollow, creaky scraping noises resume. On the second side, I hear more echoing/reverberating background electronic loops, one is really tasy cold mechanical humming. There is possibly some kind of chime sound providing the percussive/textural overlay element (I've occasionally recorded flag poles that sounded like this), and I think this track might be the Scar Crow piece I like best so far. Some really nice timbral scraping kicks in after a bit and is perfectly balanced. This piece is also a continuation of its' preceding track, however, has a distinctly slower feel and totally uninvasive vibe. Although this stuff is definitely eerie, ominous and unnerving, it's also pretty relaxing, calming in the most contradictory sense. I'd love to hear something like this used in suspenseful sequences in a horror or slasher flick, fuck yes. Didn't you ever watch a Giallo or a horror flick where you wanted to killer to pull it all off and get away scot-free? Well, this is the project for that mood.
Puce Mary/Rodger Stella "PM/RS" C20 (Mutter Wild)
A collaboration of one of the older greats of noise and tape music and one of the best younger people creating whatever this kind of music is today? Okay, yeah, let's go. And it's exactly as good as could be expected within the first few cycles of whichever really captivating, "old-school" tape-echoed and saturated loops of powerful synth tones start first on side A. With the interlocking bi-tonal "melodies" layered over one another, it's hard to go wrong, especially from two people who are known for doing relatively simple things in a completely unique and engaging manner. This result, of course, is nothing less than that. Some people could say that this sounds really '80's, and they wouldn't really be far wrong with a Broken Flag comparison of some kind (I'm thinking....Maurizio Bianchi compilation tracks??), but this does not have quite the same dismal, cold-as-a-witch's-teat fidelity and atmosphere that almost all murky '80's stuff seems to. This is just sort of decrepit-sounding, especially while the crunchy overlaid tape noise takes over from the treated synth loops. Things continue along the Italian-English-influenced lines on side B, albeit with a more Power Electronic vibe; and a more aggressive atmosphere. This track sounds like it could have been Frederikke's on her own on a Puce Mary album, with guest appearance by Stella, rather than something I'd immediately attach Stella's name to if I heard it blindly. This is a good thing, though, any artist that's got an ability to skillfully execute a specific style they have an ear for, whether or not it's entirely characteristic of their "normal" output has got my vote. Still, I keep waiting for the vocals to kick in as I've heard on a couple other releases and seen in videos of live performances; I'm not exactly saying they're missing, but both tracks could have translated well into full-on Power Electronics with the addition of Frederikke's vocals. It's still an effective mix of scraping loop sounds saturated on tape with fairly foreboding and dark synthesizer loops/tones in the background – with what I really hope is a piano at one point. Don't miss out on this one, again; directed at those enamored with magnetic tape and subtle loops. It says "undisclosed edition," so if you fuck up and skip these, it's your own fault.
Puce Mary/Rodger Stella "NYC (live)" C47 (Mutter Wild)
Side A begins with a machinelike loop that I'd probably use as an example of what I was describing if a clueless person asked what I meant by industrial or noise music. Cyclical, electronic, effected with reverb and maybe some echo; this is by no means any new formula, but just so well-executed it can't help but captivate me immediately. The "wet electricity" saw wave tones of the synthesizer in combination with the steely reverb effect again make for a fucking CLASSIC "old-school" sound that is still not necessarily just like any of the stuff these two probably had in mind when composing their collaborative pieces. After a while, some more "cinematic" synth drones that are pretty much pounded flat via tape saturation introduce themselves, making for a really, well, cinematic atmosphere; like something out of a science fiction film Tarkovsky would make today if he hadn't been poisoned by the KGB. Next, some Mark Solotroff-type helicopter cyclical drones kick in; initially a fast one, immediately following it a beatlike throbbing pulse. The way the Artemyev-style synth lines interact with the Power Electronic ones reminds me a whole lot of certain longer Ultra tracks like "Kiddie Litter" (it's even got pounding percussion after a point, during a very intense crescendo) and that's pretty much where it gets in terms of utmost fucking excellence in whatever you call this kind of music. When the Krautrock-esque action starts to happen, it only solidifies the comparison; fuck yes, this is pretty much exactly what I want/need to be listening to at the moment. Rodger's informed me that new collaboration is in the works, which I'll certainly snatch up after even just this A-Side listening session. Side B continues where A left off to take on a more '90's character, not unlike some Brighter Death Now. The synthesizer lines become sharper, more electrifying, and wet, before crescendoing into an even heavier "airplane hangar" section that despite some strange '70's descending-scale synth lines pretty much fits the "Tesco" definition of "Heavy Electronics." Some really bombastic pounding metal percussion continues along this stylistic line as noisier static Power Electronics synths creep their way in and Frederikke's whacked-out effected vocals start to dominate the mix. The modulations are absolutely insane and render any distinct words or phrases completely unintelligible, if there are any. Again, this section is really not unlike some of Ultra's longer sound-collage pieces with percussive sections and some of the more elaborate vocal freakouts. At this point, it slows down somewhat quickly and stops abruptly. When the next track begins about a second later, I am unsure if it's actually a new track or another section of what was happening previously, due to similarity in sound and atmosphere. Here, we see the more laser-like PE synth actions over throbbing bass pulses that sweep like science fiction film sound effects. This part reminds me strongly of certain sections of the earlier Pure and Total albums, like Fetor or Hard + Low, with it's sort of psychedelic take on PE. With the track coming to a close as some eerie industrial conveyor belt synthesizers are introduced prior to some insanely good-sounding texture static/tape crunch and feedback, I'm almost without further things to say; this track is like an exercise in various styles both artists are fans of, and attempting to blend them. All in all, it's most certainly a success. Again, I'd have liked to hear more of Frederikke's vocals, as that's one of her signature components for me, but regardless, I am quite pleased with this tape from the very first listen. If you get ONE tape from Mutter Wild that isn't MSNP-related, make it this one.
