Summer Scum 6?

Started by SumofTotal, July 23, 2019, 08:09:53 AM

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SumofTotal

What gives? Although the show just happened, how come this isn't more of a discussion?

I wasn't able to attend, unfortunately, but I am interested about details about the event or performances and such - and of course share any available videos or images!

DSOL

seen quite a few videos on Instagram, looked like a really good time.
"I do not get bored of nude ladies nor good Japanese noise"

deutscheasphalt

Quote from: SumofTotal on July 23, 2019, 08:09:53 AM
What gives? Although the show just happened, how come this isn't more of a discussion?

Post of the week.

l.b.

Quote from: SumofTotal on July 23, 2019, 08:09:53 AM
how come this isn't more of a discussion?

Quote from: DSOL on July 23, 2019, 03:36:49 PM
seen quite a few videos on Instagram

you only get one or the other

WCN

Harsh Noise label and EU based distro of American Imports
https://whitecentipedenoise.com/

New Forces

Remarkably consistent and well-curated fest - it was great to have it back in the Midwest. The usual disappointment about people in nearby cities not traveling to see a noise fest applies but the vibe all weekend was great so you can't complain too much. Real emphasis on harsh noise which was perfect for my tastes. None of the usual video people were there so there probably won't be many long form Youtube videos (unless someone was doing that and I didn't notice). Hence the 1-minute Instagram videos (of which I'll be posting plenty - @newforcesnoise. Not as good as a full set but you can at least get a taste).

Sewer Election was fantastic - tension filled without ever totally spilling over. He saved that for the next night with Heinz Hopf, which closed out the fest in style. They brought an already rowdy audience to the perfect end-of-fest climax. It was interesting to talk with the Swedes about the different environments for noise - namely the incredibly small but prolific scene they come from in Gothenburg contrasted to the sheer volume of noise acts in the US, all scratching and clawing to separate from the pack, of which they only got a small, carefully curated taste. Paranoid Time played perhaps the best set I've seen him play (although I feel like I say that every time I see him). By the end of his set the crowd had lifted his table above their heads and he kept playing. He also paused repeatedly to berate the soundguy for not getting things loud enough before launching back into the noise. Best performer. Body Carve showed why he's emerging as top-tier Americanoise. Machismo brought their usual brand of simmering violence and negativity that stopped just short of outright fighting. I've seen Coteries twice in the last few months and there is no one doing live death-industrial that good right now. Wasteland Jazz Unit was brilliant. Kyle Flanagan played my favorite set from an artist I'd never seen before - perfectly executed patient harsh noise and tapes. Too many great sets to list. I sincerely enjoyed keeping things going during our Form Hunter set as rowdy moshers ripped out more and more of our cables.Thanks to Dead Gods for all the hard work they did to make this happen.
New Forces
https://newforces.bigcartel.com

Kjostad
Breaking The Will
Form Hunter
Cryocene

PTM Jim

Stefan has a solid rundown there.

I'll add some favorites:

FORM HUNTER - Anyone can destroy shit during a set, but it takes a special someone (or this case two) to actually make it sound good. Perfectly crafted harsh noise and I would be hard pressed to find another act this fun to experience live.

SEWER ELECTION - Simply excellent. Tension then leaving you wanting more at the end. Happy to finally see him solo.

Kyle Flannagan - I saw him play a good set the night before in Pittsburgh, but the set at Scum was worlds ahead. Very obviously a new emerging act. Glad he has no gimmick either, just simply plays under his own name.

SECTS - Short and sweet. I've seen his name around, but first time I'd seen him play. I'm sure I'll see more in the future.

TINNITUSTIMULUS - Always good. Always hurts.

PARANOID TIME - Best. Best. Best. The crown stays with the king.

MACHISMO - Miss hanging with these guys since my move. In an overwhelmingly HN oriented fest (not a bad thing), they were one of the few PE acts. PE should be violent and give no fucks about the crowd. They did just that.

WORTH - I never know what he's doing and when I ask everyone else, neither do they. Complete master at his craft and easily top tier US harsh noise.

HEINZ HOPF - Great climax to a great fest. Crowd going nuts. Violent. Bloody. Table diving. Two (!!) encores. What more can you ask for?

Baglady

Yes. Great festival! Lakes and Boettke (and maybe a few more?) did a superb job putting all this together. Great to meet both old and new buddies! So many excellent performances, and some truly unforgettable ones. Absolute highlights? Charmaine Lee, Wasteland Jazz Unit, Form Hunter, Worth and Paranoid Time. Seeing the latter play was something I had wanted since I first got into noise, and I'm still riding the high from his insane gig. My solo set failed quite miserably due to gear problems and, apparently, some issue with the grounding which had my stuff shutting itself off. The Heinz Hopf set the next day came out great though, and more than made up for the mishaps the day before. Going straight to work from the airport after landing in Gothenburg was... tough.

soaked

It was indeed an excellent fest. Any of the acts could have been the highlight of an ordinary show. When they're all playing the same gig, it's difficult to choose only a handful to praise. Nevertheless...

Kyle Flanagan - Excellent textures and array of sounds. I think that he was mostly if not exclusively manipulating and mixing pre-recorded junk metal sounds, but I couldn't really tell despite seeing him play three times this past week. If it was junk metal recordings, the presentation was far from typical (though I don't mind typical in this regard). I saw Kyle play as part of Crazy Doberman earlier in the year, but his solo work was new to me. He's definitely on my radar now.

Body Carve - What needs to be said except that Body Carve is one of the best new(er) harsh noise acts from the US. Dense but detailed. He doesn't seem to mind letting things ride for a while, but nothing ever seems to stagnate. His set played out like well-edited tape, but it seemed to be mostly if not exclusively live contact mic noise.

Kiran Arora - You know the perfect NOISE sound that some 90s tapes have that is unparalleled by any modern recordings? The sound of full-on, in-the-red, +10db and beyond maxing-out that is coated in numerous layers thick tape saturation? Nothing cold, nothing sterile; all warm, all nasty. His live set sounded like this, and it was incredible.

Charmaine Lee - Another performer that was new to me. Mostly vocal noise that reminded me of some of Spencer Yeh's work, but it came off as sincere, unique, and well-honed. Not only was the set great in and of itself; it was a refreshing departure from the onslaught of harsh noise that constituted most of each night.

Deterge - Jim gave a great sample of the wide range of styles that he's developed over the past several years. It seemed like he was presenting a particular, meticulously-crafted palate of sound, playing through it perfectly for a couple of minutes, and then moving onto the next one via well-timed transitions. Sounds ranged from harsh noise, classic American PE, Euro-inspired PE, industrial, and much in between.

Machismo - I don't have the appropriate vocabulary to describe this set. Somehow it was utterly chaotic and well-executed PE.

Paranoid (FUCKING) Time - The most simple set-up elicited the most enthusiastic response of the fest. Rock-n-roll attitude brought to rusted gutter noise. By the end of it, Pat's table was lifted above all of our heads, yet he was still (barely) able to reach his gear and continued playing until the table slammed back down on the ground.

Worth - Such interesting harsh noise. No one else does noise like this. That strange microphone that has been protruding from the mixer for at least 6 years. That even more strange white thing that either is a microphone or is at least treated as if it's a microphone. Will took full advantage of the PA at its max volume and let the bizarre textures ride until their potentials were fully realized.

Unsustainable Social Condition - One half California wall of harsh noise, one half Nikudorei (and, perhaps, Spacegrinder) style crowd attack. Why choose one or the other when you can have both?

VMS Elit / Sewer Election / Heinz Hopf - I lump these three together because I'm running low on time and stamina. VMS and SE were each superb on their own, but Heinz Hopf brought the fest to quite an appropriate conclusion -- the perfect mix of experienced know-how and wild, uninhibited chaos. Dan cut his hand quite badly (it seemed) on his piece of metal, but that didn't stop him from raising and slamming it over and over again -- with many close calls to my own head. Special thanks to Luke Tandy for sneakily turning up the PA speakers during their set!

If you're interested in videos and are a luddite like me, it appears that you can get a good sample from Oxen's publicly viewable Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/oxenrecords/

Strangecross


I would mention G/N/O was powerful performance.


duckworship

The entire two nights were very special - ditto to what PTM Jim, New Forces, Baglady, and soaked had to say.

Special mention is that I got punched in the dick by MBD during his set by accident. Yes, if anyone was curious, I was that guy in the duck t-shirt.