October 12, 2022 at 6:10 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
XEREX: XEREX MEETS DRACULA
The back cover of
this album states that XEREX is a duo of conjoined twins from Germany, and that they “have been grown in a petri dish as elderly mathematicians in 1972.” This album is supposed to be an “invisible story” similar to a Choose Your Own Adventure novel. Apart from the intro, a sampled welcome from Dracula himself, all of the tracks are numerically titled, and they generally concentrate on one certain loop or texture and explore them for the duration of the piece, rather than progress. “Dracula II” sounds like a cloud of ominous bells, for example. “IV” is much longer than most of the tracks, and it’s basically a bubbling cauldron of acidic synths for 9 minutes. “V” is a more potent brew which constantly seems like it’s going to boil over. The rest doesn’t get quite that abrasive, although “X” has some harsh bell buzzing. “VIII” has a tense, cricket-like glow, and “XII” similarly has a shivering type of organ drone. The Choose Your Own Adventure description is apt, basically pick a track and you’ll be placed in a specific audio setting for a few minutes. In some cases, that could be a scary situation you might want to work your way out of, and other times it’s more of a serene audio bath.
October 10, 2022 at 7:09 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Terrence Dixon & Jordan GCZ: Keep In Mind I’m Out Of My Mind 2LP
I picked this one up at the Rush Hour shop when I was in Amsterdam recently, but it’s officially out worldwide and on
Bandcamp now, so there’s no better time to post a review. Following a store-exclusive 12″ from 2020 (which I got when I visited last year), this is a full album from the prolific Detroit producer and the Juju & Jordash member, presumably recorded during the same 2019 sessions. All improvised using hardware, these are tracks that just spring forth, with melodies that unassumingly bloom along with the rhythmic currents. “Operation Delete” gains more of a steady kick after starting with a more broken pattern, and eventually rises up as if anticipating an abduction. “State of the Nile” is a perfect example of the type of Sun Ra space-techno Dixon is a pioneer of, with some unexpected keyboard plunks and echo effects that shoot from the side. “Above Ground” has melodies that sound like they’re being played on thumb pianos or tuned percussive instruments, and the synths expand from there, making reflective patterns from the melodies as well as splashing out cosmic effects
October 8, 2022 at 10:20 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Dan Friel: Factoryland
On his
newest solo album, Dan Friel (Parts & Labor, Upper Wilds) continues to write melodies that could be featured in Disney cartoons or pop songs from ’80s coming-of-age movies, and play them through junky equipment doused in distortion. He’s always used his childhood keyboard in his solo music, so there’s a child’s sense of discovery to what he does, except he’s been doing this for ages and he’s able to push the equipment to the limits and create these raw but ear-bleeding and catchy compositions. Most of these are concise nuggets that would be perfect for a noise-pop jukebox, if such a thing existed. “Trash Dunes” is the only one that stretches out, getting caught in a dot matrix printer loop before adding a beat and more sonically expansive melodies. Somehow it all ends with an ambient lullaby. Pretty magnificent stuff,
Life is still my favorite of his but you can’t go wrong with any of his solo recordings.
October 6, 2022 at 6:57 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Aquarian: Mutations II: Delicious Intent 12″ EP
The
second Aquarian EP of the year is another impeccably designed rocket-powered rave epic. The tracks glide forward with precision, yet they’re heavy and forceful, requiring one to buckle down tight. “Delicious Intent” is a storming rave/gabber hybrid, and “A Familiar Place” has some unexpected jazz touches. “If U Wanna” has some familiar vocal samples and some of the most twisted drum breaks imaginable. “pPPRISM” eventually adds glowing organs to its turbulent breakbeats, which are maybe the most straightforward on the EP. Both Mutations EPs are among the sharpest, most exciting breakbeat releases of the year.
September 23, 2022 at 5:26 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Woody Sullender: Music from Four Movements & Other Favorites
Woody Sullender’s
first release in over a decade contains pieces from
Four Movements, a downloadable project which seems to function as a video game, interactive environment, and album all at once. There’s a demo video on his website, it looks pretty amazing. The music is pretty fantastic on its own. Sullender plays banjo and produces minimalist electro-acoustic soundscapes, heavily influenced by techno on several of these tracks, particularly the mesmerizing “Figment Pattern” and “Towards Minus”, a remake of “Minus” from Robert Hood’s 1994 minimal techno blueprint Internal Empire. “The Tale of the Brook to the Pool” is more fragile, dissolving away from rhythm, then slowly reforming. “Chelsea” starts with low thumps, crackling static, and slow acid techno growls, with haunted echoes taking over the piece as the kick drum thumps onward. “House of Calm Serenity” is a lengthier, more droning track featuring harmonica by Seamus Cater, Sullender’s collaborator for his last release, the 2020 LP When We Get to Meeting. Final track “Life Without Objects” is echo-heavy enough to qualify as dub techno, yet it’s busy and full of movement rather than loop-based and repetitive.
September 21, 2022 at 6:00 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Connie Han: Secrets of Inanna
Pianist Connie Han follows 2020’s impressive
Iron Starlet with an album inspired by ancient Sumerian culture, specifically the goddess of love, beauty and war. Mostly consisting of compositions by Han and/or drummer Bill Wysaske, who produced the album, the release is conceptually inspired by ancient mythology, but doesn’t necessarily play like a typical concept album. Tracks like “Gilgamesh and the Celestial Bull” demonstrate Han’s stunning technical virtuosity, yet her music is more accessible than it may seem. She switches to Fender Rhodes for the playful, sparkling “Young Moon”, as well as parts of the first and last tracks. The less restricted hard bop tracks like “The Gallü Pursuit” are the most exciting ones, but Han never fails to impress.
September 15, 2022 at 6:45 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Nickolas Mohanna: Sight Drawings LP
from Nickolas Mohanna is a continuously flowing suite of shivering vibrations, sampled sounds from nature, and intimately miked acoustic instruments, all gradually merging into a rhythm which seems like it’s channeling something from deep within the earth. Beginning with hyper-tense jittering, the sounds evolve into rattling, drumming, and acoustic bass by the beginning of “Earthworks”, which later becomes consumed by a swarming drone which slows time down. “Riprap” feels looser and more relaxed, mainly focusing on a few resounding notes and letting feedback ripple into a nearly hidden patch of introspective piano notes. An almost upbeat rhythm emerges in time for “Kinetics”, as pianos tremble and everything gets splashed by a wash of phasing effects. Strings dissolve into digital clouds during “The Atomist”, and “Rolling Block” starts out as jumpy, antsy strings before it smooths out to slow, rich bowing.
September 14, 2022 at 7:37 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Graham Repulski: Zero Shred Forty
returns to his much weirder solo work after releasing several albums with his band Von Hayes. 10 tracks zip by in 20 minutes, with cryptic lyrics howled out against bricks of guitar distortion and tinny drum machines. The guitar chords clash against the vocals, which seem like a weapon, with the tape hiss serving as a cloak. After the clanking, sideways hooks of opener “Wait Wait”, “Flaming Television” is an anthemic wailer condensed into less than two minutes and stuffed with messy guitars. “Boiled Again” is much longer (almost 5 minutes!) and more hypnotic, with a droney violin solo and a few lines that make the first verse of “So What’cha Want” pop up in my head, yet they aren’t direct quotes. A brief noise interlude precedes “Tart Milk”, a brief tune with a similar sort of wobbliness as “Wait Wait”, but this feels more like a fragment of a mutated ’80s pop song. “Rated Violence” is pretty straightforward and fades out without much consequence. Then we get to “Zoey the Cat,” a minute and a half of keyboard clouds, screeching violin, and zoned-out thoughts. “Failure Jam” dunks its catchy melodies under fluttering tremolo effects. “Jinx Pimp” is another hazy reflection under sheets of guitar fuzz, then the final track is an audio recording of someone walking outside and doing… something, it’s impossible to tell what. Like other Repulski releases, this one has some unshakeable hooks, but it also teases the listener with experiments and unexpected audio riddles.
September 13, 2022 at 8:13 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Sunfear: Octopus
often buries simple, resonant guitar and vocals in cocoons of echo, with natural sounds flowing and trickling on certain tracks, making it feel like an intimate performance in a magical forest. It feels simultaneously right up close and distant, hazy, untouchable. The lyrics might be about forgetting, or not knowing where someone is. The specifics can be hard to grasp, but the overall experience leaves a distinct impression. The one song with drums, “Octopus”, pulls you along and keeps you afloat, just narrowly avoiding tumbling into a vast pool of regret — the chorus seems to go “I’m sorry, I guess”. Lastly, “Goodbye” detaches from everything else and departs the earth without any hesitations. It’s remarkable when someone can create something that sounds lost, wandering, disembodied, yet focused and specific, nothing close to a formless mess.
September 1, 2022 at 5:45 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Meadow Argus: The Palace tape
The first side of the new
Meadow Argus tape has unsettling creaking and crunching noises and looped layers of decayed piano melodies, turning potential distractions and irritants into something oddly comforting. The best part is the last few minutes, when it turns into a gentler ambient part that could almost be an outsider house track stripped of its beats and left outside to dry in the breeze. The other side incorporates clips from what I assume must be a fake radio show the artist recorded as a kid. Cleverly, it back announces the previous piece (“Everlasting Gaze”) before going on to do a sports report and fake commercials. The words are spread throughout a haze of melting music boxes and curdled static. Right when it starts to drift away from the childhood memories, we’re hit with a PSA telling you to get involved with your school and pick up your trash, and a snack bar announcement that I’m pretty sure mentions Fruitopia. Then there’s the “last song”, a distorted organ drone joined by hellish, demonic howling which may or may not be the mangled voice of the kid hosting the radio show. In the end it feels like an attempt to exterminate childhood memories.
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