Causings "4-Hour Body" CS (self-released, 2019?)
Nice little tape of subtle, understated experimental/musique concrete sent to me by a member of the group, one Derek Baron – some folks 'round here may know him from his Reading Group label. Not exactly sure how to describe this kinda stuff. Basic components are field/incidental recordings, various acoustic clank and clatter, and some electric guitar through what I assume is a tiny box amp. Normally I wouldn't find this combination all that interesting, considering how haphazard these things tend to be, but this is pretty enjoyable and actually builds good atmosphere and tension after a minute or so. I guess this stuff sort of sounds like outtakes from the first two This Heat albums. Snippets from radio and television interject occasionally, along with what sounds like accidentally pushing the record button on Baron's tape player(s). The acoustic clatter is hard to pin down but also pretty small, "domestic" and tinny at times, which is the only real complaint. Meanders here and there, also, but that seems intentional, if that's possible. Guitar sort of struggles to reach the point of rhythm/melody and otherwise just drones quietly for tone and texture. Creates a very inviting sense of space. Fans of Graham Lambkin-related anything would do well to contact Derek and pick this one up.
Bicipital Fine s/t CD (Off, 2017)
I doubt I would have checked this out without Derek having sent this to me, but I'm glad he did. This is a sort of restrained take on free jazz/avantgarde jazz that gets noisy but never loud and is quite odd but never skronky and abrasive. Normally that'd be a huge detracting point, but this really works for me. Very pleasant flute and trumpet along percolating full bass and of course Derek Baron's weird, quiet tape (electro-)acoustics. I've always wanted to hear something vaguely like this (e.g. quiet free jazz) and this isn't like what I'd imagined, but still fits the bill and a very relaxing listen – morning coffee music/Sunday afternoon-type stuff.
Lt. Col. Cooter "Substandard Operating Procedure" CS (self-released, 2018)
Lt. Col. Cooter "Covert Operations ..." CS (self-released 2018)
New offerings from a project that is beginning to really explore all possibilities; sound work vs. performance art, comedy vs. commentary, and so on. Here, we get some contrast from the Besmirched 2: Uncut tape in the exploration of interrogation techniques and the darker side of U.S. diplomacy. The real highlight of the two is the A-side of "Covert" which consists only of the man himself being waterboarded and a gradually-encroaching high-end synth tone. Otherwise, there's some nice (and funny) noisy sound collage (featuring Rosie O'Donnell) but the strong point here is the introduction of new angles/approaches – how many people do you know who've voluntarily waterboarded themselves for the sake of a performance or recording? Furthermore, thank fuck some research went into these concepts, rather than just lazily "presenting" current events or whatever. Good stuff that perhaps offers more promise for what's ahead than necessarily a home-run, but I don't really see too many others simultaneously offering humor and insight, so a cut above by that token alone.
Psycho Ex-Girlfriend CS (Bacteria Field, 2018)
On side A, the mother of all thrift store tape scores – ad nauseam recordings from an answering machine of someone's, well, psychotic ex calling. Repeatedly. With increasing psychosis. One of the better quotes is something like "I'd like for you to just do something really impulsive and risky, you know, to show me that you care." Not really good for foul moods, but on better days, impossible to avoid laughing aloud. On the B-side, you get garden variety harsh noise with the previous answering machine recordings buried underneath. Sorry Eddie, sorry Jake, there's just no way the B-side can live up to what the A-side offers. Should've just included more of these recordings if any. Good stuff no less but just can't measure up.
Paul Bowles "Baptism of Solitude" promo CS (Meta, 1995)
Disregard this review if you aren't already a fan of the author. Here, we get readings of excerpted Bowles prose, poems, and such against some ambient synthesizer played by Bowles and Bill Laswell. In some moments, it works (esp. "Next to Nothing," "You are not I," and "A Distant Episode,") but otherwise I would've been just as happy with nothing but Bowles' voice – no eerie/cheesy synth presets can match the beauty and darkness of his words, anyhow, and really the man just had an excellent speaking voice. Advertisement on cover describes it as "haunting" which is pretty spot-on – the best part in Bertollucci's film version of The Sheltering Sky is when Kit runs into the cafe in the final scene to find Bowles himself: "Are you lost?" Something about the man's voice is just exactly how a writer and personality such as himself should sound. Sui generis. Mystical in a way, yet totally lacking any coherent sense of dumb "spiritual" notions whatsoever. Maybe someone with advanced audio software can isolate the readings for me and then I can have the recording how it really should be.
Violent Shogun "Taste Our Japanese Steel" CS (Yes Divulgation, 2018)
Damn! Really atmospheric and enjoyable junk metal abuse that manages to be somehow both blown-out and varied in texture, as well as quiet. This has to be heavily treated on tape because although it seems to have originated with really well-recorded sources/acoustics, it's saturated and decayed enough to sound like old M.B./M.O., or a more aggro version of Alleypisser. Or, at times even like an earlier Hal Hutchinson tape dubbed to older and older tapes over and over again for maximum gain, decay and saturation, then treated to amazing stereo EQ.
Side A goes from rotten scraping and creaking with background high-end to continuous but dynamic and fluid texture wall, which lets up to reveal some amazing clunk and clatter with gorgeous (I mean fucking gorgeous, man) acoustic character – possibly with some leftover tape shit bleeding in underneath, or maybe, I don't know, the sound of one of the tape recorders itself. Cutting through that after a long, relaxing passage is a series of rapid cuts of noise bursts that I have a hard time believing is only just junk metal (there's obviously some feedback). This gives way to rusty clanging that is not so much harsh but hard before the tape runs out.
Side B was clearly not material from the same project, but hard to tell if it was included intentionally or not. Some kind of cavernous and tape-saturated death metal that could be, I don't know, Incantation, Slugathor, Asphyx or one of those bands. Not bad at all. Nice drum sound, good riffing, old-school vocal style. I wonder what others who received this tape got?
Perhaps I'm a little biased, but pretty much anything from this project is going to be well-thought-out, well-executed, and impressive in terms of technique/style, even in basic/simple mode as with this tape. Sounds utterly dismal on a cold day in my drafty apartment. For fans of: early Hal Hutchinson, Massimo Toniutti, Altar of Flies, Sewer Election.
Sewer Election "Dismal" (Team Boro Tapes, 2018)
Top-notch harsh work from a project that's pretty much always doing whatever is being attempted really well. Side A has crunchy noise with a propulsive, sputtering forward-momentum with the signature SE tape decay/saturation. Description said "barely-there feedback" but it sounds pretty fuckin' loud to me (precise but blown-out trilling tones). A few minutes in things get more broken-up with interruptions of mid-range screech – you pretty much get tonal/timbral variations on that formula. Awesome. Side B begins with some of the most stunning basic-yet-detailed tape saturation crackle I have ever heard. Almost as if you took a Vast Glory tape and repeatedly copied it from older tape to even older tape. Whining alarm high-end and sharp feedback cut in after a few minutes. B is more shift-heavy with lot of stop-start action but more or less retains a limited color pallette like A. If you like the project in question, Wince, or Legless, you probably already have this. You know the drill.
