The Answer Is In The Beat

Candi Nook: How I Invented Sound And Redesigned The Human Ear 2xCD (Spleencoffin, 2022)

October 30, 2022 at 6:17 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

U.K. artist Candi Nook released a handful of cassettes and CD-Rs from 1998 to 2005, and she was in a group called the Shite Girls. That’s more or less everything I know about the artist based on this collection and Discogs, but the audio contained on these discs is a treasure trove of amazing oddities, revealing its composer to be a curious and creative noisemaker. The tracks from the earliest releases are definitely in the noise realm, but it’s the type of noise that incorporates silly voices and rhythmic loop samples as well as harsh feedback. Around 2002, her work gets way more synth-heavy, from not-quite-techno to music for a makeshift space station. “Dreamfeed” is a massive mood shift, a haunted nightmare world consisting almost entirely of eerie, reversed voices and other sorts of squeaks or chirps. Candi Nook is the type of artist who will name a lovely ambient piece “Stinkdrone”, as a previously unreleased track attests. A bit more conceptual is “It Flies”, a bizarre collage of ticking clocks, computerized voices, and operatic wailing. “onward” and “TOOTHACHE” are variations on the same theme, with a clock-chiming synth melody and a playfully menacing attitude. “Maybee” is a twitchy technoid track with calming accordion-like droning. “Saskatchewan” is sort of close to what I guess people call “comfy synth” now (I’m guessing, I’ve never listened to it), and “Teaspoon” is a fun caper with cartoon sound effects and whimsical melodies. There’s a lot of humorous tracks on here but Candi Nook’s music gets deep when it needs to. Well worth exploring.

Argiflex: Summer Is a Relative Term Vol. 3 (self-released, 2022)

October 29, 2022 at 5:46 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

The third volume of Argiflex’s Summer Is a Relative Term series is another mesmerizing set of hardware-based club music. Not as heavy on smashed-up Amen breaks as some of her other releases (aside from the tear-out breakcore of “Global Summit Island”), this still has plenty of hard-edged distorted kicks and acid synths, as well as lighter, steel drum-like tones. The breaks are definitely there, though, and they keep the tracks sharp and on their toes. Easily one of the most club-friendly Argiflex releases, this is loaded with secret weapons for adventurous DJs.

Jordan Reyes: Everything Is Always (American Dreams, 2022)

October 27, 2022 at 6:25 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Jordan Reyes’ latest solo work is a meditation on tragedy and existential dread, seamlessly threading together disparate genres including doom metal, modern composition/drone, and the darkest fringes of country. The opening track “The Void” centers around the line “I can see my body in the void”, and the multi-layered string-fuzz drone “Would I Were a Moth” opens with the question “Could I become the wind?” travis of the band ONO delivers a series of spoken verses on “Translineation”, tying folklore together with science fiction. “Kraken” does something similar in a different manner, setting deep, commanding narration to mesmerizing synth sequences and doom metal drone. “Maybe I’m the Dust” progresses from gentle acoustic guitars and plaintive singing to dark incantations and an overwhelming mass of guitar noise. Lastly is the album’s comforting title track, repeating the title phrase until it ascends with the help of strings and horns.

Dev/Null: Microjunglizm Remixes (Evar Records, 2022)

October 26, 2022 at 6:57 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

After Dev/Null proved that it’s possible to make killer jungle tekno with a handheld, calculator-like device, several vastly different artists tear his tracks apart and do exciting new things with them. Of course there’s a Tim Reaper and Dwarde mix, which is top shelf, but it’s remarkable to hear hybrids from non-jungle producers, like DJ Marfox’s high-speed kuduro breaks and the stuttering, elastic beat contortions from Shanghai’s GOOOOOSE. DJ Swisha cools us down with more of a dubby atmospheric cut, and False Witness goes for dark, trancey techno with a hint of darkside breaks. Easy recommendation, just like the originals.

Collin Sherman: Organism Made Luminous (Ex-Tol Recordings, 2022)

October 20, 2022 at 6:46 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Continuing his strong discography of multi-tracked solo recordings, Collin Sherman delves deeply into modular synths and other electronics on his 14th effort. Opener “Failed Deontological Promise” has the longest list of gear in the liner notes, but the following “Across Three Fields” is a bit more ear-catching, with a nice balance of sparkling analog synths, vibraphones, saxophones, and flicking drums pulling it all along. “Hegemonic Virtues” has a fat, distorted Moog sound and way-out sax, calling out to Sun Ra’s side of the galaxy. “Dialectic Rejected” has a bit of a cyber-Western flavor, with desert guitar melodies and a rattling electronic textures which act like the spurs of the steady drum beat. The longest track, “Says Flowers”, puts away the synths but still conjures up unearthly sounds from a bowed Telecaster and an alto sax. “Late Edition” is one of the more synth-heavy tracks, and its beats were made by loading typewriter sounds in electronic drum software, creating organic-sounding IDM. “Space Mission of the Immortals” is a dazzling mix of glowing circuits and freewheeling sax melodies. Sherman has used a lot of these instruments in his previous work, but this album is a unique evolution of his sort of solo space jazz.

Persher: Man with the Magic Soap (Thrill Jockey, 2022)

October 19, 2022 at 8:48 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

In one of the least expected directional shifts of the year, techno producers Blawan and Pariah, otherwise known for their live analog collaboration Karenn, made a noisy industrial metal record and Thrill Jockey is putting it out. The modular textures are still present, but there’s demonic growling and overwhelming distortion. Punkish blasts like “Ten Tiny Teeth” provide the most energy, but there’s also dense, bludgeoning industrial tracks like “World Sandwiches 2”, and “Patch of Wet Ground” has some convulsing blastbeats and sinister riffs. “Calf” is really the only track that slows down and gives at least a little room to breathe. Skinny Puppy going sludge metal is the only top-of-the-head comparison I can think of for parts of this album, and that’s not really even close.