Samantha Glass "Introducing The Confession" CS (No Rent, 2017)
Really intriguing and immersive minimal electronic music from artist also (un)known for more industrial, PE-ish material under the name Victor Portsmouth. Although I haven't heard that stuff, I'll definitely be checking it out – as this is pretty top-notch. Very dreamy and ethereal without being totally stereotypical two-note goth haircut keyboard bullshit, good for background multitask listening without relying too much on stock-drone ethereality (I.E. atmosphere is achieved through effort, not factory presets). When focused on with proper attention, the atmosphere seems almost offensively intimate, sort of like the tapes from JH1.FS3. But what do you call this, genre-wise? I don't really know; some tracks have processed vocals, others samples, one even has a Patsy Cline sample in lieu of vocals. Some have a weird approach to sound collage involving almost indiscernible field recordings and unintelligible police scanner recordings, but all have an underlying current of minimal melodic and rhythmic synth work. Really great stuff with an ultra-modern, sleek n' stylish post-industrial vibe that I normally am (ahem) a bit skeptical of, but here seems to fit perfectly. Would definitely appeal to some of the Strange Rules and Posh Isolation crowd in terms of sound, but I don't think that's bad in this case. Here, I'm thinking Kyo, Vanessa Amara, Olymphia, stuff like that. If you can tolerate that kind of thing, you'll like this.
Pool "Jim Day Upholterer" CS (No Rent, 2017)
Crude yet somehow kind of sleek minimal noise-collaged nothingness from a handful of guys whose names I don't recognize. Sounds like this could be one person as much as it is apparently a group, as there is not a lot here. We get a variety of popping, warbling, and synth blurting sounds alongside some other obscure and momentary noises and field recordings, this isn't another static "study." Things never even come close to getting loud or harsh, even at high volume. There's an obvious use of acoustic and everyday sound here, so this kind of rests in that nebulous place that is not noise, sound collage or musique concrete, but plenty would see it as being all three. Lots of weird warping effects and strange mixing/placement choices. You'd think this would be pretty lo-fi, and some sounds are, but mostly it just has this "medium grey" quality that helps blend everything together. I can't tell if either side is the same exact piece, or different mixes of the same basic sound pallette, but I suspect they're more or less different. I think this would appeal greatly to the vintage-obsessives but also to anyone who wants an example of something being done today outside of any reference to anything else. I guess it's vaguely like some of the stuff from Stewart Skinner. I like this very much but I get the feeling it'd be nauseating if you listened while suffering from food poisoning or a bad hangover. Otherwise quite relaxing and pleasant. Apparently this project is on a couple of pretty obscure compilations and I'd like to check those out.
