Quote from: Baglady on October 09, 2020, 11:06:54 PM
Quote from: New Forces on October 09, 2020, 10:01:54 PM
Decesh is one of my favorites in the Hands To discography, and it's for that precise reason - the longer drone pieces that verge on almost melodic content. There's a similar track on Christage as well.
Christage is a favorite of mine as well. And speaking of that Sound Of Pig trilogy, I think Mose Wreck has a similar sidelong hypnotic piece, if I recall correctly. I'll have to revisit. Can't imagine I'll stumble upon these old BBP releases anytime soon, but good to know there's more of the "almost drone" thing that early on in the Hands To discography.
WORTH - Roosting In Death-Sized Horn CDR (Prose Nagge, 2020
Some sinister backwoods witchery going on here. Swampy wet venomous spitting noise. Headless hens running amok, eyes spinning backwards, nails, frogs, altars, crazy sex and all that. A voodoo seance gone terribly wrong. Lunacy. He's more harsh than usual on this one, mr Van Gorder, and rather straight forward. The trademark bent and mishandled sounds are still present though, and as usual, it sounds as if he's trying to flush down all his gear in the toilet. Sluuuurp. One of this years highlights this far, no doubt. Also looking forward to the Oculus 2CD. Hope to see a new full length on vinyl soon though!
The label that put out the "Rough Music" box, Forced Nostalgia, has a bunch of early Hands To tapes (including the SOP releases) up digitally on their Bandcamp. The Nostalgie De La Boue blog also has a ton of (free!) official downloads of tapes that not even Jeph himself has the masters to.
Hands To - Oldage (C90, Big Body Parts, 1989) A sonic approximation of Pangaea splitting apart.
What the hell, Jeph. I seriously can't pin down a single sound on this nearly hour-and-a-half long tape. There are clangs, rumbles, and at times gorgeous ringing tones all buried under layer after layer of magnetic sediment (the tape was recorded using "ancient equipment" after all). But good luck properly identifying what exactly is happening.
"Subterfuge" is over 45 minutes of the previously mentioned sounds, eventually reaching levels of tape saturation that would make The Skaters cry.
The B-side is very similar in tone/structure, though the sound varies a bit over the four tracks. Of note is "Gamelon", a gorgeous piece of archaic "gongs" & "chimes".
This was one of my more sought-after HT tapes, and goddamn, it didn't disappoint.
For best results, play loudly inside your local crypt/mausoleum.
Anal Sadist - Austere (C?, Frank Booth Cassettes, 1989) Damn. Finally managed to track something down from this obscure-ass project. Definitely gonna need a few more listens to digest before I can speak on it further.
Having only been familiar with the project via the PHENOMENAL live performance on the Pain Factory DVD (featuring AMK!), I expected warped, sample-laden psychedelic stuff.
Instead, I was hit with repetitive, bass-heavy industrial noise.
The B-side is significantly more active, with all manner of scratchy tones riding loopy "beats".
A huge thank you has to go to Jim Haynes for getting this to me. Here's to hoping I can track down the Shotgun Head/Chaw tape soon.
The cover is a major dookie alert, so it won't be getting posted here.
AMK/GX - Two Mixed-Up Guys (C60, Banned Production, ????) Hey, this isn't AMK or GX at all! This is a killer compilation featuring Chop Shop, Speculum Fight, Con-Dom, Evil Moisture, Randy Greif, Gen Ken Montgomery, and Tadpole (in one of only two known recorded appearances!) reworking material from the Two ____ Guys series.
I swear that this comp was made specifically for me. Some all-time favourite projects all on one strand of magnetism.
Chop Shop's piece may be his most cut-up. Even moreso than Tension-Charge-Discharge.
Tadpole (occasional Sudden Infant associate) turns in a strange little synth-pop tune. Occasional GX crash-bang interjections cut through the mix. Like a female Pascal Comelade collabing with a car accident.
Con-Dom is nearly "ambient". Evil Moisture turns the fellas into tape spew. Speculum Fight's roomtone duets continues to blow my mind, Gen Ken messes with a couple of recorders. Randy Greif gets yelled at by a bus driver. I grin like an idiot.
A special shoutout MUST go to Elden M. for getting this into my grubby mitts (and for being the most exceedingly friendly guy this odd little subsect of sound has ever produced). Please, keep the man busy and grab something from him. He has a ton of rare stuff (including old ACL tapes) available for often excellent prices.
