 Sistrum
/ Metal Tech / Das Torpedoes / Arnoux
4-way split cassette
Unread
Records
Genres: DIY, experimental, field recordings, noise
Unread
PO Box 3462
Omaha NE 68103
Mar 8 - 14 2004
|
Experimental/noise split cassettes are far from uncommon, but this
abundance of releases is part of what makes the genre so
appealing. Sure, there's plenty of stuff you'd be tempted to
pass over, but there's also lots of really incredible, mind-opening
neat music out there. While lots of these gems are out-of-print,
formerly available in limited quantities from eighties-era Japanese
tape labels,
there are also a few more accessible, still-active depositories for
modern DIY experimentalism. Unread comes to mind here - for many
years now, it's been a consistently solid purveyor of unusual,
genre-bending sounds. This four-way split, an exceedingly pleasant cacophony of found sounds, field
recordings, and intriguing performance art, is a pure success.
DIY landmarks Sistrum and Arnoux are paired with Metal
Tech and Das Torpedoes, whose names I've known for awhile
but whose sounds I've never laid ears upon before.
Arnoux starts us off with his quarter of the cassette, entitled "Beams
if Cygnus." Like most of this tape's duration, it makes for
perfect headphone material. Weird piles of noisy, mixed-up avant-gardisms
are thrown at the listener's unfortunate ears. Guitar and
strings are available in doses, as are some bizarre vocal found
sounds. This is creepy, creepy stuff - the type you'd play in
dark catacombs at night.
Sistrum follows with "Sudden Household," an
interesting and crisp recording of some sort of ambient
performance. As opposed to synthesized or melodic sounds, Sistrum
offers up an interesting performance comprised of the clanking and
glugging of seemingly household objects.
Das Torpedoes's quarter, "Hoou," meanwhile, is a
bit noisy, hoisting something of an industrial influence, and Metal
Tech's four compositions are interesting sonic tidbits of assorted
performance art-esque experimentalism.
All in all, this is a terrific DIY experimental split.
Although it is far from "noise" as some audiences may
expect, it is nonetheless a terrific tape of intriguing avant-garde
sounds. A must for the truly daring listener.
88%
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 7 tracks, distributed by the
label, released 2003] |
