Greymouth – Telepathic Dunce (Careful Catalog, 2020)
Greymouth have been active for over a decade but only have a handful of releases to their name. That’s alright, seeing as they make them count. I first heard this New Zealand duo, both of whom currently reside in Japan, awhile back via the great All Gone label, and have enjoyed the few things I’ve picked up since. Telepathic Dunce is undoubtedly their strangest I’ve come across yet. The general ambiance is still swimming around the murky end of NZ/Xpressway, with overloaded box amps, marble mouth’d vocalizations, handheld rhythm box, tapes/field recordings etc. in no short supply, though everything feels slightly more ‘off’ than usual. It is dream music, but not in the sense of hypnagogic ethereal vocal melodies backdropped by a mauve-hued David Lynch set; more so in the way the pieces are recognizable enough but don’t quite fit together. Like the one where you’re lost in the hedge maze from The Shining and run into a friend who OD’d on fentanyl a few years ago, or are alone on a stage being scrutinized by some umbral crowd for an indecipherable reason and can’t stop fidgeting ‘cos there’s a pubic hair stuck in your urethra, or the time God comes out of your closet, but as a spider (!), and tries to penetrate you but you fight him off and he climbs over your face and onto the wall. Yes, Telepathic Dunce is a bit more like those dreams, though I swear it is a pleasant affair the whole way through. It also got me thinking what The Post Nearly Man might sound like without a prominent spoken word element, or maybe Loren Connors sitting in on the recording session of “Papal Visit”, so if you’ve ever wondered the same then the fine folk of Greymouth & Careful Catalog have got you covered.
Ezio Piermattei & Ben Presto – The Balsamic Doctrine (Steep Gloss, 2020)
Steep Gloss is a new UK-based label already 20 releases deep (I guess some people have used all the time indoors productively). This is the first I’m hearing from either them or Ben Presto/Ezio Piermattei, though after my thorough research (glancing at ‘scogs) I do recognize the latter as head of Tutore Burlato, who released some gems a few years ago. Anyhow, I take it these two Italian expats have been well served soaking up their spaghet with the Dada-cum-functional alcoholism of only the finest audio rubbish Merry Olde England has to offer, as The Balsamic Doctrine would’ve made a great soundtrack to the Easter Accords, right in the wheelhouse of BWCD/Fiend/Choc. Monk/Mantile et al. And while these two aren’t exactly reinventing that patented Mud Sound, they make a most exquisite timbre grinding its gears into the pavement. Synths and organs moan, narcoleptics have rousing dialogues with themselves, unidentifiable objects clatter/clang and the occasional show tune warms the heart and stirs the loins. Even the collage artwork, which I usually find kind of mundane/obvious for this type of music, is well put together and nice to look at. One for the acid casualty inside us all.
Ruda Vera – Angles Morts (Eminent Observer, 2020)
Ruda Vera returns with his first ‘official’ release via the Cincinnati-based Eminent Observer cassette label. I don’t know if it is just a consequence of listening to a lot of Jeph Jerman following the recent interview but again, as with RV’s two previous CDRs I am noticing the kind of naturalistic, “purposeful stumbling” experiments Jeph does so well. With Angles Morts, however, the sonorities seem coming less from a wide open desert plain and more claustrophobic domestic settings, or maybe some piss-soaked alley, as the plague carts circle around for the day’s victims. Howard Stelzer also comes to mind, particularly in terms of the heavy tape fog weighing everything down, though comparisons in sources and composition can be drawn as well. There are dreary hums and anemic whistles, bits of rustling/crackling, some kind of strange springing device and a shitload of analog interference from the cheap cassette recorder capturing it all, though thankfully the lo-fi nature doesn’t really mask anything, it is more a natural sonic extension, another player in the room. Although it does not really sound like either, the atmosphere is dour and somewhat ridiculous in a manner similar to first round MB or Zone Nord. The only negative thing I can say is that the collage cover strikes me as a bit anonymous, and doesn’t do the audio of Angles Morts, which seems pretty far removed from your typical magnetic tape pastiche job, justice. A quibble all things considered, for what is really an excellent release from one of the most promising newcomers ‘On The [Downtown] Scene.’
Um:Kogyo – Organic (no label, 2020)
Another hissy dribbling for your consideration. Although the band name and artwork recall the great Monde Bruits tape on Vanilla, I have it on good word that Um:Kogyo is actually a collaboration between Floridaman Chris Donaldson (City Medicine, Christopher David etc.) & Yankee diddle dandy Seamus Williams (TVE). I was excited to hear this as I often find both artist’s work interesting, and Organic does not disappoint. It opens with shrill, oppressive static and some mic handling, perhaps from the recording device sliding around the top of a car dashboard as it drives down the highway. Our lengthy ride continues at an unhurried pace, taking brief detours inside a fire alarm running low on batteries, the disembodied voices of a department store loudspeaker, past the c’untry junction’s train whistles and police sirens and eventually landing in what I assume is someone’s kitchen as they empty the contents of a silverware drawer into the garbage disposal. Budget ass INA-GRM moves the entire trip, like François Bayle composing a track using only tapes and equipment provided by Jean-Marie Massou. This is followed by a shorter piece that seems to also revolve around ‘travel’, now on foot as the familiar sounds of wind, birds, heavy breathing and an approaching storm take on a vaguely menacing character, the drama heightened after an encounter with barking dogs. This abruptly cuts to the final track, featuring the talk of a small child and insignificant domestic scenarios, very much in line with the Christopher David material, which become increasingly washed out by some sort of dull mechanical drone. It is all pretty unmusical, but provides just a hint of structure through very subtle editing, and has a thoroughly puzzling, almost cinematic quality that calls for repeat listens. I find something new every time 🙂
V/A – Kparr Dirè (Balafon Music from Lobi Country) (Edition Telemark, 2020)
Something different for once, eh? Edition Telemark is a Berlin-based label with a broad catalog of both contemporary and archival sound art, classical, experimental etc. They’ve now branched out to folk/world music with an LP and feature length documentary’s worth of recordings by Palé Goukoun (solo) and Martin Kensiè (with ensemble), performing traditional music of the Lobi, an ethnic group of less than 200,000 living in and around southern Burkina Faso. As the title suggests, the primary sound source is the balafon, a type of xylophone made with wooden keys and gourd resonators, accompanied, depending on the context of the piece, by additional percussion and group vocals. Although there have been similar collections on established trad. folk labels like Ocora, the E.T. write up speculates Kparr Dirè is the first widespread documentation of a contemporary iteration particular to the market town of Gaoua, which cross pollinates the ancient forms passed through the musician’s families with modern pop broadcast around town on the local radio station. The result is a sound at once rich in nuance, seeing as these are variations on standards that date back centuries and communicate specific messages, but also immediate in its stripped down, hypnotic and improvisational character. The performances documented on the LP and DVD have all the raw minimalism of my favorite Wassoulou music (Nahawa Doumbia, Sali Sidibé), and are every bit as sonically adventurous as, I don’t know, The Bewitched or Reich’s Drumming box or Voor Masje. It goes without saying that none of this matters, but all the same, while I am well versed in the folk customs of the downwardly mobile white male, this is my introduction to Lobi music, and I do have apprehensions about contributing in any way to what often feels like the tokenism and exoticism inherent in the casual Western listener’s public appreciation of such. On the other hand, I’ve played Kparr Dirè a ton over the last month, it has caused me to check out those old Ocora titles and more, and what better reason to share my dumbass opinion on anything if not for blind enthusiasm?
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Do you record marginal music to keep yourself from going insane? Would you like for it to be reviewed? If so, e-mail crisisoftaste [AT] gmail.com. Only physical releases will be considered, and reviewer reserves the right to discard upon unsatisfactory listening experience, but if what you send is good then that shouldn’t be a problem.
Follow
