Mukqs: Mem Aleph tape (Jacktone Records, 2019) + Jaki Crush tape (No Rent Records, 2019)
August 24, 2019 at 3:44 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Mukqs: Mem Aleph tape
Two of the latest tapes from Hausu Mountain’s Max Allison explore vastly differing styles.
Mem Aleph (his Hebrew initials) is released by Jacktone Records, the Detroit label run by Doc Sleep, and it represents his techno side. This is music for deep sea cruising and night driving alike, with lush chords and detailed beat patterns gliding along at a breezy tempo. The tracks flow into each other, making this a continuous escapade, and while there’s no shortage of new ideas popping up and cycling through, the lengthier “Autoblock True” lets things breathe a little bit more. “Miracle Love Item” gets into some glitchy repetition a bit like the Field, while “False Minoshiro” and “2 Mesos” are choppier and more playful. The more sentimental “For Diane” mixes in some manipulated acoustic guitars and vocals, but keeps the kinetic beats and bright, busy basslines.
Mukqs: Jaki Crush tape
is an entirely different ball game, but just as good. Far away from his beat-driven work, this is a boisterous set of cut-up collage pieces with no logical beginnings or endings, splicing up scrambled pianos, flurries of drum machines, homemade sounds, and rapid, momentary noise inserts. While in the spirit of classic musique concrete, it sounds altogether more DIY and punk rather than academic. It’s grubby, lo-fi, and restless, and incredibly fun. While the album is one disorienting blast after another, the drama elevates a bit more during “Save Scumming”; turn it up loud enough and you really feel like you’re in the center of a great catastrophe.
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