The Answer Is In The Beat

v/a: Zum Audio Vol. 5 (Zum, 2023)

v/a: Zum Audio Vol. 5

George Chen’s Zum label has been in operation since 1997, and the earliest volumes of their Zum Audio compilation series included appearances by bands like Modest Mouse and Duster. Then in 2006, the third volume documented the flourishing noise/noise-rock scene with artists like Can’t, John Wiese, and Yellow Swans. A digital-only fourth volume appeared in 2021, and now the fifth marks the series’ return to the CD format, perfect for college radio DJs who like to take chances on weird underground music. The first disc starts out with some riveting noise-techno from Hausu Mountain/Deathbomb Arc alumni Davey Harms, fka Mincemeat or Tenspeed. Spring Breeding follows, immediately sounding like they would’ve been a perfect fit on Troubleman Unlimited or Load Records two decades ago, switching between noisy grindcore and scraggly dance-punk. A steadily paced, cathartic doom metal song by KIM leads into an almost aquatic black metal piece by Curse All Kings. An excerpt of a live set by drone group Growing helps us levitate into space for ten minutes. Aux Meadows’ tune sounds like an informal living room guitar-and-Casio jam. P:ano contribute an extremely lovely slowcore dirge with horns and harmonies, the kind of song you instantly feel like you’ve loved for years. Continuing in solo guitar drone territory, Builenradar is both hypnotic and rustic, while Somnambulists take off in an aerial drift. Marcus Fischer’s “Night Paving” is a very patient ambient piece steered by faint percussion. Then there’s longer, more freeform jams from the sax-and-drum Marshall Trammell & Paul Costuros Duo and Vietnamese collective R​ắ​n C​ạ​p Đu​ô​i in exploratory rock mode. Disc 2 begins with a synth-rock quest from My Heart, An Inverted Flame which seems to march straight into a blinding light. The Drivers’ “For Oscar” is nothing but a focused, clapping drum beat for two and a half minutes. Nihar’s “Mercy On Thee” is an incredible post-techno exploraiton with springing metallic drum machine effects. Baus play jumpy indie post-punk, and Trough are heavy, unhinged thrashers; both bands’ songs barely last 2 minutes each. The Intima play complex, knotty post-punk made more tense and somewhat romantic with its prominent violin part. Low Praise’s “Forget That It’s Summer (Area Mann Disco Dub)” is a dance-punk club anthem that sounds straight off an old DFA 12″, like something that would’ve been revisited in the recent documentary Meet Me in the Bathroom. Then Exotic Gardens’ “Drugs & TV” jumps a decade forward into the hypnogogic pop era. A song by Eucalyptus recorded in 2006 sounds like Neu! but with more accelerated drumming and uplifting synths. Jonathan Snipes (clipping., Captain Ahab) does a creeping, minimal trap-ish synth instrumental. The piece by Ravon Chacon & Mark Trecka is a more distant industrial noise excavation which ends up having more acute sound design than it appears at first. EERI​Æ​RMOR’s “Xi​ǎ​ox​ī​n” starts out as corrupted noise, floats onward and brighter, then eventually gets overtaken by noise again, but emerges as a drifting light that won’t be extinguished. Second Dinner’s “Kinda Pandemonium” is a sprawling mess of wayward drums and blown-out fuzz that lives up to its title. Finally, it all comes to a close with a clear, resonant reflection from Giardini di Mirò with Daniel O’Sullivan.