The Answer Is In The Beat

Nickolas Mohanna: Sight Drawings LP (Run/Off, 2022)

September 15, 2022 at 6:45 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

The newest record 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.

Graham Repulski: Zero Shred Forty (Shorter Recordings, 2022)

September 14, 2022 at 7:37 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Graham Repulski 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.

Sunfear: Octopus (Dark Entries, 2022)

September 13, 2022 at 8:13 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Sunfear’s debut album 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.

Meadow Argus: The Palace tape (Flophouse, 2022)

September 1, 2022 at 5:45 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

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.

Throwaway: Hand That Takes (FPE Records, 2022)

August 29, 2022 at 6:49 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Throwaway’s brief second album is a reaction to being trapped in a death cult society that forces its citizens to constantly work without any guarantee of success or compensation. People are just producers, mannequins, faceless and nameless figures. “Glitch Mob” is about being stuck in a video game with no chance to win, with hope that some sort of computer bug will reset something or prevent certain death. Kirsten Carey’s voice recklessly jumps octaves and challenges the dissonance of her guitar playing. She laughs in derision during “Kyubabe”, and attempts to fix a sinking ship with duct tape on “Cute Frankenstein”. A news bulletin in Japanese introduces “DINOSAUR.”, a menacing anthem about being driven to panic of a degree that smashing and eating everything seems like the only recourse. The appearance of an actual dinosaur(-costumed human) during the band’s live performances elevates it into a manic, dramatic spectacle. The lengthy “Six” has several sections that gradually speed up and get heavier, expressing several stages of mounting anxieties. If you’re on the verge of just losing it, you’re already well prepared for Throwaway.

The Paxton/Spangler Septet: Ugqozi (Eastlawn, 2022)

August 28, 2022 at 5:54 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

John Paxton and RJ Spangler, both of Planet D Nonet, a Detroit group that performs music from multiple eras spanning the history of jazz, turn their focus on African music on this album, which is named after the Zulu word for inspiration. Additional players on the album include members and collaborators of NOMO, the Sun Messengers, Tribe, and others. The release starts out with the joyous fanfare of “You Ain’t Gonna Know Me ‘Cos” by Mongezi Feza. Most of the other tracks are significantly longer, affording the extensive cast of musicians more room for soloing. “Part of a Whole” (written by Caiphus Semenya and recorded by Hugh Masekela in 1972) has a slower, easier, more laidback groove, but it’s still tightly performed and emergetic. “Lwandle’s Lullaby” was written by Salim Washington, who guests on the album and wrote the liner notes, and it’s one of the more reflective and lush-sounding performances on the album. Fela Kuti’s “Water No Get Enemy” similarly feels a little stretched out and unwound a bit, it’s not as punchy as the original, but it’s still highly faithful to the original; Alex Harding, who was in the Fela! musical, guests on baritone sax. Miriam Makeba’s eternal jam “Pata Pata” is given a spirited instrumental reading with some post-bop soloing. Finally, Abdullah Ibrahim’s “Jabulani – Easter Joy” starts out in an almost New Orleans-style horn procession before rapidly switching to ripping free jazz.