The Answer Is In The Beat

Impermanent Projects mega-post

February 6, 2019 at 10:37 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Portland-based Impermanent Projects has been putting on events, releasing music, and creating art since 2017. Their website stresses their mission to add to the cultural conversation rather than the trash heap, and while they might not be the most prolific label around, what they do put out hopefully means something. The first issue of their long-in-the-making Antsy zine is finally out, and while it can easily be digested in the span of a couple hours, there’s a lot of wonderful, insightful information and literature here. Dustin Krcatovich (Impermanent Projects co-founder, along with Micah Vanderhoof) interviews the always-inspiring Space Lady, Fred Thomas and Dominic Coppola reminisce about the ’90s, and there’s an eyewitness report about the Fargo noise scene. Among lots of other stuff. Well worth checking out, very tidy, professional layout but still resolutely DIY in content.
The label’s first batch of musical releases includes a split 7″ featuring two former WCBN DJs (Dustin and Benoît Pioulard). Pioulard’s side is filled with sighing loops which swoop, joined by other celestial sounds, making it sound like far more is going on than actually is, filling the room up with glowing spirits. The label states that it’s 5 and a half minutes long, but it’s so engrossing that it seems to transcend all notions of time, and it feels half as long. Skin Lies’ side is a big jolt after the first one. It’s more abrasive, and also more swampy, filled with bizarre insectoid chirping as well as some nearly poisonous noise attacks. Still, it’s also pretty ethereal and mind-bathing rather than brutal, and there’s even a song buried deep under the radioactive foam.
One of several tapes issued in this particular Impermanent Project is one from Gossimer, consisting of a single gorgeous 15-minute piece using a tuning fork, a white noise machine, a delay pedal, a vibrator (!), and other objects/devices. It starts out sparse, then a melange of scrapes, buzzes, and yes, vibrations all blur together into a much more musical heap of tones than you might expect at first. Then there’s a deep level of bass fluctuating underneath a thick blanket of hiss, but you almost don’t even notice the hiss because of how the bass makes you feel. Then another cluster of sounds expand and begin plucking at the strings of your soul.
Providing a tiny glimpse into the aforementioned Fargo noise scene is the split tape from scene veteran Edwin Perry Manchester and Hopechest. Perry’s “The Evil Spirit That Devours Mankind” is a disturbing fever dream filled with slow, reversed creaks and thwacks, as well as a few hair-raising crashes and shrieks. Mankind definitely doesn’t survive this one. The Hopechest side, however, couldn’t be more different. This one sounds like nothing short of a spiritual rebirth after the doom-spelling first side. And it’s not even all that “happy” or “blissed out”-sounding. It floats and feels light and glowing, yet if you pay close attention it’s actually quite grimy and curdled. A really refreshing blend of meditative truth-seeking and subtly manipulated weirdness.
My favorite tape of the batch, however, has to be Eye Idols by Talc, simply because of how absurd, chaotic, and straight-up fun it is. This one is all mangled, incinerated, and glop-encrusted tapes, with stereo panning action so that it resembles some sort of drunk, absurdist sound clash using far-from-functioning equipment and half-melted cassettes. It’s somewhere between Moth Cock and Invisbl Skratch Piklz Vs. Da Klamz Uv Deth if it was made by rabid mutant gerbils playing singing bowls. And the second side seems to have been partly composed by a dolphin.

v/a: Gradients Volume 2 3xLP (Astrophonica, 2018)

January 27, 2019 at 1:44 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

More ~160-BPM hybrid bass futurism from Fracture & Neptune’s label. The duo throw Bollywood into the jungle-garage mix with their “Chal Dub”. Teklife’s Taso also teams up with Fracture, combining US and UK future bass styles. BSN Posse’s track is relatively mellow, but then there’s the ferocious bass conquering of Moresounds’ “Shut Up”. FaltyDL’s “A Day at the Races” is one of the more faithful hardcore jungle tracks here. Proc Fiskal’s “Soundwise” demonstrates that his take on jungle is equally bizarre and unconventional as his vision of grime. Dream Continuum (Om Unit and Machinedrum) make an unexpected, welcome return, and OnHell & Sigrah’s “On Sight” storms out of nowhere and ends up being one of the best tracks on the comp. Sully’s “Qualia” shuts everything down with an overload of both intelligence and emotion.

The Higher: The Core 12″ EP (XL, 2018)

January 27, 2019 at 1:26 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Shed’s newest alias appears on XL with some of his nuttiest rave deconstructions yet. “The Core” is an extremely difficult track which knocks the beat sideways, yet still ends up being a total anthem. “Stick 3” is more of a hardcore headrush, made all the more manic by stuck-in-the-machine stutters. Two “Submarine” tracks are separated by year, with “’99” being a little darker and tenser, and “’95” actually being the stranger and more complex of the two. Neither particularly sound like the years indicated by the titles, but it’s hard to imagine what year they could’ve come from.

Precipitation: Earth/Sky tape (100% Silk, 2018)

January 27, 2019 at 1:14 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

A different, refreshing take on ambient house. The “Earth” side has two lengthy tracks with fragile, somewhat shivering synths and minimal beats which set it in motion. Super misty, but not heavy and doesn’t soak you to the bone — this is precipitation, not a storm. Following the steady ambient techo vibes, the “Sky” side is strictly beatless, removing the sense of forward motion, but carrying the same feeling out into the stratosphere. You begin to miss the beats after a while, it does make you feel like you’re being taken far away from home.

Catdog & frank angotti is dead: ADHD (IndustrieStandard Records, 2018)

January 27, 2019 at 12:26 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Catdog’s tracks on this split range from the usual terror-mashcore (“Move Your Feet”) to somewhat subtler experiments like the Bowie-sampling “Unfocused”. “No Ones Going to Like It” is a footwork-gabber hybrid which samples an old Delta 9/Lenny Dee classic. frank angotti is dead starts out with noisy industrial techno but his other tracks are stranger, more abstract breakcore, with “Not Done Yet” being the most collage-like. The music is fun on its own, but the fact that Longmont Potion Castle designed the artwork puts this one over the edge. Available from Bandcamp (free DL).

Tomat Petrella: Kepler (!K7, 2018)

January 26, 2019 at 2:18 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Davide Tomat and Gianluca Petrella reach for the stars on this magnificent collaboration. Though partially coming from a jazz background, this is closer to advanced, haunting sound design, with Petrella’s trombone inventively weaved throughout Tomat’s wave-like textures and sporadic yet hard-hitting beats. “Proxima Centauri B” starts out somewhat like Lee Gamble’s inverted jungle flashbacks, never arriving at beats and clearing the way for solemn trombone playing. “Trappist 1 E” is more fractured and turbulent, recalling Roly Porter or the Haxan Cloak, harshly sputtering but briefly pausing for breath and ending up much calmer and resolved. “Hd 40307 G” is riddled with crackling which will make you think something’s wrong with the speakers. “Gliese 667 CC” is filled with doomy, semi-industrial beats. “Tau Ceti E” has sporadic clusters of beats (Second Woman-style) with the trombone gradually peering out over them. “Kepler 186 F” is a 10-minute epic which grows slow, trudging beats and phasing effects, to disorienting yet fascinating effect. Kepler is a truly original album which makes you reconsider the idea of space music.

Magela Herrera: Explicaciones (Brontosaurus Records, 2019)

January 25, 2019 at 9:27 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Magela Herrera is a Cuban composer/flautist based in Miami, and her first solo album is an absolute knockout. Her arrangements are complex and dynamic, yet it never feels like she’s stuffing too many notes onto the page. It all goes down easily, but not blandly smooth. She seamlessly blends Afro-Cuban, European jazz (she lived in Norway for a while) and fusion styles, and while all the songs are different, it’s all recognizable as her style. Likewise, the tunes are a mix of original compositions, childhood favorites, and standards, all of which fit together perfectly. She also sings on a few occasions, and her voice is just as stunning and gorgeous as her flute playing. “Danzon Para Papa” is the most traditional-sounding Cuban tune and there’s also a rendition of “Besame Mucho”. Cheers all around.