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SILVUM
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« Reply #65 on: October 10, 2014, 09:28:20 PM » |
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V/A – Finish 2X7” Drahtfunk-Products
I enjoy 7” comps, but I prefer when each artist gets an entire side of each record (or when each side has 10 or more artists), but this comp makes it ok by doing my favorite thing, which is by including a booklet where each band gets their own page (some get 2 here), it’s fun to see who is using what techniques, who has a computer in 1997, who is probably still using paper, feels like that little boost of surface to get a message across compensates for time, but luckily pressed at 33, nobody seems entirely rushed. Brume starts with the unfortunately titled “Internet Midi Zombie”, it’s fine, swooshing noises, and then some rhythmic thing with banshee sounds, I’m ok when he shows up on a comp, but his work is too scattered to really grab me. Next is Astro, with hard sculptural psychedelic electronics, like a constantly warping structure floating in space more than any kind of narrative, it sounds exactly like a guy turning knobs on a synthesizer, and that is something I think I now definitely have more than enough of, but he does it fine, sadly it does seem to just get faded out, no resolution, but it’s not jarring. MSBR, hard close heavy electronics, starting with his tonal roaring monster call thing, and that sort of dips in and out of static, with shifts in surge density and direction in ways that propel the piece nicely. Again, I’m sure you all know that tonal prism sound he uses, this is it (I have an interview somewhere where he mentions what the exact piece of gear is, was it a bass synth?). This piece has a better more rounded out presence and power than the live tracks which seem to make up a lot of his later discography, so it’s really worth seeking out as an MSBR fan, especially over some later CDR releases. Then Salt, his track is fine, it’s basically just doing what Aube does, even the aesthetic of his page. It’s all made from engine sounds, it’s a very tastefully done collage of sounds. I’ve never been moved by stuff this guy does, it’s always, pretty good, but doesn’t grab me viscerally or interest me. Record 2, Contagious Orgasm when he was still good, weird samples, lots of reverb, kinda muddy and dense in his flat way, some metallic sounds and dripping, eventually a siren and it gets rhythmic, but it’s still industrial, not techno. Then Thirdorgan, wild screaming / squealing electronics noise that’s harsh and piercing and sharp… but it sounds like it’s small… it’s cool, but it sounds like a model, which is an interesting sonic scale. The Aube track is next, and Aube on 7” up to 1999 or so, is pretty great in my experience…. nicely developing looping densities with static fuzz loops shifting around and building in thickness to a nice full stop, not full on assault noise Aube, but just a really nice textural statement that stays on the harsher side of things. Comp closes out with Macronympha, a really murky, but not fully assaultive piece, grimy muck density with some tonal lines and rhythmic stutterings and blips inside all the crud, sounds like surging sewer waters with weird stuff surfacing now and then. I think this type of work reveals itself nicely over longer durations, but I didn’t feel cheated or deprived here, it was a nicely shifting piece that said a respectable amount, even though it does seem to just cut off. I think this comp is still around even though it’s signed and numbered only 300 copies, so definitely worth grabbing.
Shimpfluch-Gruppe / Peeled Hearts Paste – No More Gun (Live In Nippon) 7” dualpLOVER
I’m always bummed out by the cover of this record… my pile of Schimpfluch 7”s look great, minimal design, cool scrawlings, weird photos… and this guy, a green and orange… toucan… gun… speaking with a comic word balloon…. I wish it was a black and white photo of a naked guy curled up on the floor with a girl puking on a wig on a table with some hand scrawled text in illegible German… P.H.P. side is a live recording of feedback and yelling and some percussion and electronics, I think. Schimpfluch side is live room recording of buzzing amps and moaning man vocalizations and some attempted puking sounds, attempted puking in a bucket sounds, growls, feedback, some electronic sounds of unclear origin, loud manimal moaning, it’s totally wretched and absurd, so, I’ll just keep dealing with this sleeve… probably just make my own for it. I hate audience reactions captured for posterity, but the immediate laughter at conclusion then record silence was nice.
K2 – Hofradma 7” Myotis
I listen to my K2 7”s all the time, more than any of the other stuff of his, just when I need to chew on scrap metal for a few minutes, delight. 1996-7 Era K2 = cool metal junk screeching scraping and clanging sounds cut around with perfect static sheets, feedback threads, and furnace blast electronics… Not much to say, it’s K2 from my favorite era crushing. Nice inclusion of some weird panicky vocal outbursts, I’m not crazy about short pedal loops, but it’s never done to an upsetting degree. The B side is more heavy cut up metal noise, nothing to add besides, it’s fucking awesome, has nice blaring car horn and pulse sections, and I always admire his use of micro blips of silence, it’s like a weird trick that slams me right back into the intensity, too short to be cuts to new tracks, too carefully and regularly deployed to feel like glitches, the K2 mini silences are just like perfect little periods or visual cuts, maybe it’s just an editing thing he can’t help or doesn’t even care about, but it is an incredibly important element of what makes his work so powerful to me.
Big Stick – Drag Racing 7” Recess Records
I’m always looking for records like this, almost songs, but more documents happening out of pure willpower more than talent. Track 1 is a dude talking about political assassinations with a weird tripping beat and some guitar, but all sloppy and robotic, Track 2, the masterpiece Drag Racing, weird drum machine, very similar to the first track, more weird stuttered vocal lines, like they sampled all their vocals and instead of singing it, just played portions on a sampler, but this also has a dosed out chick mumbling crap about her clothes, it’s great. I live for fucked broken music like this. B side basically the same shit, weird sloppy beat, drunk on the couch guitar commentary and weird rambling drug vocals and samples, and the last track is also just as cool as the others and is the same elements while the girl mumbles about something. I’m sure it’s objectively awful, but I love it. Perfect 7”.
V/A – We Hate You 7”+CD Jazzassin Records
OK, I guess I’ll just talk about the 7” portion. I admit I basically bought this comp only for The Gerogerigegege and Merzbow (already have the Aube). The Origami Republika track is fine, just like, ok we like T.G. industrial. The Gerogerigegege track… is like 30 seconds of tapping on a table with Juntaro reciting some lyrics in a silly voice… I do like that it’s notated as take 11, and that everyone including whoever was holding the Walkman is fully credited. I think it’s time for the full Discipline cover sessions to be released on 7”… maybe Lasse has all of them??? The A.P. track is more: we like T.G. fun (a lot of the CD is like this too, feels like a party of people having fun, probably the only way to really approach a tribute comp without seeming dumb), The Inca Eyeball track is great for what it is, a very amusing project, I would be happy to walk by if he was playing in the subway or something, I.E. has an unmistakable sound, I imagine they always play open mic nights at my dream noise world bar, The I.O.S. Weeping cover is pretty successful for a seemingly straight on cover, female vox ver, it’s nice to hear. The Kapotte Muziek thing is fine, just an exercise. The Merzbow one is good, satisfactory length, it’s solid and heavy and sounding very clearly like he is using T.G. as source material, which is stated in the liners, so it’s hard to hear it as NOT a T.G. remix, so as a curiosity it’s nice. Cool comp, but I don’t think I’ll play it again soon unless some other T.G. fan wants to hear it over drinks.
Déficit Des Années Antérieures – Miss Vandann 7” Illusion Production
I was for some reason quite obsessed with getting as much Illusion Production stuff as I could in highschool, I dunno if it was just cus the descriptions were cool in Anomalous and Nuit Et Brouillard catalogues, but in the early days of my ebay addiction, I had some luck winning rare junk cheap cus most people would either not search the bands full name, or nobody cared at the time, whatever the reason, I remember being insanely excited to get this for like 9 bucks. I basically got rid of most DDAA, it’s fine, but not directly what moves me, but I do still really like the first few years, still after Aventures En Afrique 7” and Bacterial Voice Epidemia 7” if anyone doesn’t need those and wants to trade. I was really impressed with the packaging at the time, I still find it beautiful, yellow and pink screen printing on a black sleeve. It also comes with a toy soldier, a piece of ancient gum, a postcard, “Illusion Production Magazine No. 1, a paper airplane model “kit”, a semi abstract architectural mini poster, and a cool screen printed pin up of “Miss Vandann”, and it’s all in a bag, and includes a folded piece of cardboard that would be placed over the top of the bag, and a sealed copy would look like one of those cheap bags of toys and candy in a checkout aisle, an excellent presentation. A side is an angular little anti pop song, simple guitar, primitive minimal wood block sounding electronic percussion and persistent mantra like vocals. B side is guitar plucking and a pulsing violin like - synthesizer drone which subtly escalates in intensity, but never to any outrageous explosion, not mindblowing, but a nice little breather after the more intense A, and it’s basically long enough to develop a defined space in its short running time. The B side also delivers a little better on 33. A cool record from 1979.
Déficit Des Années Antérieures – Front De L'Est 2X7” Illusion Production
Another one I got for like $9 on Ebay forever ago. This was released with four covers with a fragile paper band wrapped around and a booklet, I have the camo cover, which luckily I feel looks the best. A side, has more primitive woodblock percussion, a frantic Frenchman chanting the “Danse..Danse....” of the title and a few other words. Some minimal textural accents of a gently surging type radio static sound. Eventually a few moments of female vocals at the end. B side is two pieces, the first is meandering guitar and buzzing synth then a Humphrey Bogart dialogue sample in the transition and the second piece is some kind of toys and bells percussion with slightly more desperate vocals, they get a little too passionate for my tastes though the percussion and voice merge into that mantra zone that I like near the end, but it’s the early D.D.A.A. sound, so it’s pleasant enough with some coffee in the morning. Record two starts with distorted voices and some simple sunny piano, I enjoy the minimal combination of weird distorted repetitive… counting? and simple piano, kinda sounds like that first Yoran 7” I desperately need. 2nd piece on this side is barely there percussion, minimal one note guitar, and gradual surges of white noise. The last side is gentle contemplative minimal piano and a slow chant with a somewhat more insistent male voice above the rest. Again, I like early DDAA, but I don’t need that much of this kinda stuff.
Contagious Orgasm – Hydrophobia 7” Ant-Zen
I still haven’t worn the T-shirt... one day. A side: cool smashing and looping that reaches that classic smeared grey density that I like with old Contagious Orgasm. Some buried feral growl vocals, and a few tightly packed layers of textures… eventually some movie samples, and radio, but the selection is very unique to his style, where it seems like the samples don’t really make the most sense, I’m used to people sampling heroic speeches, not some odd dialogue from Silk Stockings… then it enters a final phase of some undulating synthetic static, female screams, and the loops all building to a vhs cinematic pool of sex death… I love how the flatness of so much early C.O. gives a very visual sensation; I’m sure informed by his great early design work, I feel like I’m hearing dense foliage of xeroxed bodices and circulatory systems… B side is samples of voices, rhythmic clanking, sheets of grey unclear audio, obscured actions, drops out to cinematic strings, weird moaning, some drum machine comes in at one point, but it’s staggered and not too loud… an interesting journey through decayed industrial spaces (they feel like movie sets though, not actual factories), peeking in rooms, surprised by who and what resides, all very Eraserhead soundtrack. This is quite a long 7” at 33, both sides are around 10 minutes, perfect when I need his world for a bit.
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