Black to Comm: Earth

Black to Comm : Earth
De Stijl Records (2012)



What planet is Black to Comm from? How can this be the first Black to Comm record I’ve heard?

Lately I’ve been bored with experimental/noise based music, but I picked this up on a whim because I’ve seen the Black to Comm name floating around in lots of different places over the years. I hadn’t realised just what an effect Earth has had on me until I noticed in iTunes that I’ve listened to this record nearly 35 times since I got it a few weeks back.

The solo brainchild of Mark Richter, owner of the De Stijl Record label, Black to Comm is based on a fascination with super old records. Like Philip Jeck, Richter samples and manipulates obscure recordings, twisting them into abstract patterns and shapes. He embellishes found sound with odd acoustic instruments and electronic disarray. Disembodied voices lurk in the background wispy and faint like ghosts, the needle crackles away comfortingly on vinyl and melodies shimmer in endless loops while odd noises haunt the darkest corners of each and every track.

The result is spectral, somewhat melodramatic and entirely ‘what the fuck’. It has the grandiosity of Godspeed you! Black Emperor! with a far more whimsical attitude.

On Earth, composed as the soundtrack to a silent film by a Singaporean artist, the glue that binds these montages are the vocals provided by Vindicatrix; a rich and monotonous series of incantations which could easily become grating, but in this context they take charge as a Medium contacting the spirits responsible for this music from the other side.

The critic Simon Reynolds has written quite a bit about Hauntology (see his latest release Retromania), a phrase he applies to a group of artists on the Ghost Box label who mine old BBC recordings to create ‘spooky’ music that lies in the realm of Camp. Reynolds loves these artists and the way they embody a history that’s supposedly haunting us in the present. I think Earth is a much better representation of this idea and Richter’s incantations are startlingly original by comparison. This is music that requires patience and dedication, the patterns are detailed and intricate. Listen at night, with headphones.

Carter Tutti Void: Transverse

Carter Tutti Void: Transverse
Mute (2012)

Deep, dark, throbbing and spacious. Unworldly. Electronic but weirdly organic. Familiar and yet unlike anything else you might have heard before. Transverse is all of these things and more.

Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti, the long-standing duo born of cult faves Throbbing Gristle teamed up with youngster Nik Void of Factory Floor for a one off performance in London last year, and the result was this. Transverse is a monumental improvisation driven by Carter’s undulating rhythms, which pulsate in a sexual, bottom-heavy dance. He prepares a sparse and spacious canvas which Tutti and Void decorate with hyperventilating guitar static, shrieking computers and garbled incantations.

Transverse might be a distant cousin of dance music, stemming from a simple 4/4 throb, but nothing else about this is conventional. Void doesn’t play her guitar, she wrenches noise from its strings while Tutti throws up electronic ephemera and manipulates her own voice into something ritualistic and menacing. The smoked out halls of Dub seem to be an influence on the blunted sound of the record, the way sharp noises snap into focus and then echo back into the fog.

The final track on Transverse is a studio take of part of the London performance, and it’s interesting that this turns out to be the weakest moment on the record. It lacks the cavernous, spontaneous and ceremonial feeling present throughout the live tracks. It’s easy to imagine how powerful Carter Tutti Void must have sounded on stage, each artist focused intently on contributing an individual ingredient to the mix. We should be thankful they chose to release their particular brand of noise as a live recording. Transverse is a must for 2012.

Felicia Atkinson: Les Boise Rouges

Felicia Atkinson: Les Boise Rouges
Unread Records (2011)

Felicia is a French musician and artist whom I stumbled across over at the Free Music Archive where you can download a copy of this out of print cassette.  I’ve not explored the archive much before but after finding this diamond in the rough I’m keen to dig around a bit deeper on there.

Felicia makes ethereal drones using a guitar and effects pedals. Breathtaking clouds of nothingness  that don’t appear to have any particular destination in mind but never slip into self indulgence. The compositions range from sparse and acoustic, like This Impermanent Gold which makes me think of Jackie O Motherfucker, and montages that combine blissful guitars with miscellaneous  noise. It’s the latter pieces where Felicia excels, managing to build up a vortex of sound that threatens to unhinge itself from reality. If you’re a fan of the mighty Yellow Swans you’ll be familiar with this trick. It’s a great act she’s got going here, and Les Boise Rouges is highly recommended as an antidote for those late nights at home when the world feels like it’s getting the better of you.

Lee Ranaldo: Between the Times and the Tides

Lee Ranaldo: Between the Time and the Tides
(Matador) 2012

I thought this review over on the ever-debatable Pitchfork was lazy and a little unfair. Sure, Between the Times and the Tides is a conventional album filled with fairly conventional songs, but was it ever promoted as anything else? There’s an interesting story within David Browne’s ode to Sonic Youth, Goodbye 20th Century, which details a schism between Ranaldo and the Moore/Gordon Union during the recording of Goo. Ranaldo, going through a divorce at the time, had written a song that meant a great deal to him and which he wanted on the album, but the afore-mentioned Union refused to include anything so obviously confessional and conventional. What I’m saying is, Ranaldo has always had it in him to write the type of songs found on Between the Times and the Tides, he just never had the outlet. The guy was part of a hippy folk act before Sonic Youth for crying out loud.

Personally I’m really digging this record. I love the fact that he’s stepped completely left of Sonic Youth’s ironic noise-rock experiments* (let’s face it, Thurston Moore’s Demolished Thoughts from last year was basically an unplugged Sonic Youth set with Cellos…….and confessional lyrics). I say good-on Ranaldo for flying his own flag.

And he flies that flag well. He does a better REM than REM does, while some sections come across like later period Husker Du. There’s slide guitar, country twang, retro guitar jams, xylophones, organs, funky basslines, chorus hooks and even an acoustic moment or two. Ranaldo sounds like he’s having the time of his life, doing his own thing and making all his own decisions. Whatever Pitchfork says, I don’t hear any awkward transitions within these songs and I think the simplistic lyrics are perfectly suited to the music behind them. Lee Ranaldo’s contributions to Sonic Youth’s albums have always ended up as my favourite of the band’s songs; Between the Times and the Tides just might end up as my favourite of their solo albums too.

*disclaimer: Sonic Youth are the one band that I have listened to and admired consistently throughout my life.

Thomas William: Deccan Technicolour

Thomas William: Deccan Technicolour
This Thing (2011)

Quirky, ‘bedroom’ producers are a dime-a-dozen these days thanks to affordable technology and the World Wide Web. Yet amongst the dross there are plenty of gems and  Deccan Technicolour is a shining example.

Thomas William is the monikor of Australian based Tom Smith, who used to go by the name Cleopatrics. Perhaps he’s not quite a bedroom producer, but whatever the case, he has a knack for turning the found sound eclecticism of acts found on Paw Tracks’ roster into head nodding hoe-downs for people who like beats. He plays with schizoid hip hop rhythms that sound like they’re about to collapse in on themselves, but all coloured with washes of synth garble, Middle Eastern collage and retro string arrangements to create something contemplative rather than danceable.

Williams’ dedication to cutting up intricate samples and collating them to capture his own melodies and droopy rhythms  borders on the obsessive (check the uber moody By Proxy for example), but that very focus is a blessing to the ears. While Hip Hop is central to Deccan Technicolour, particularly the more experimental styles practiced by the likes of Prefuse 73 (see Acid Overweight), and the quieter moments of Flying Lotus, there’s also evidence of Oneohtrix Point Never’s ambient experiments and the far-out corners of Black Dice.

A lot of hip hop records struggle to keep my interest from start to finish, but there’s plenty of ups, downs and left turns on Deccan Technicolour to keep my attention. Take a listen and start nodding your head.

Yamantaka//Sonic Titan: YT//ST

Yamantaka//Sonic Titan: YT//ST
Psychic Handshake (2011)

Understandably, most people would run a mile if I said “check out these Canadian girls with Japanese heritage, who’ve made a ‘rock opera’ inspired by Otaku culture, Buddhism and prog rock.”

Avoiding is what any sane person would do, but that’s their loss. YT//ST is a bucket load of fun, and Yamantaka//Sonic Titan sound wayyyyy better than Boris have since Pink.

Wipe any trace of The Mars Volta from your mind and replace it with some concept driven rock made in a dirty garage. Throw in some Krautrock rhythm and repetition and you’re on Yamantaka//Sonic Titan’s radar. From the Iron Butterfly/Deep Puple- esque opening track through to the scuzzy jam A Star over Pureland there’s a shambolic thread running though these tracks, which gives the album an experimental edge. When they break out into extended ‘jams’ these girls aren’t showing off their chops, they’re exploring the possibilities of noise. The cutesy vocals make YT//ST even odder still. The jazzed-up organ solo that rises from the fuzz of Crystal Fortress over a Sea of Trees absolutely kicks ass.

If there’s a key influence it’s that of Boris, whom the girls have referenced in interviews. This sounds like a much more focused rendition of Boris’ mediocre Smile album; a mix of shoddy ballads, blown out fuzz and driving drums. YT//ST‘s tracks are bridged together with odd soundscapes, like any good rock opera, but thankfully the girls forgo the stereotypical 100-minute opus for a tight 31 minutes that’s over all too quickly.

Go on. Treat yourself.

John Weise: Seven of Wands

John Weise: Seven of Wands
Pan (2011)

Mr Weise is an amazingly diverse noise artist. From the scatter-shot madness of Soft Punk to the all out war of Black Magic Pond, from the skronk of his collaboration with Evan Parker to the subtle beauty of Circle Snare, the latter of which informs this record here Seven of Wands.

How did I miss this last year? Weise’s skill at knitting together seemingly arbitrary field recordings –  crackles, bumps, scrapes, miscellaneous percussion and other aural detritus – makes him a true sound artist. There’s something very conceptual about his approach to noise; by focusing on incidental sounds  he forces the listener to think about humans’ place in the natural order of things, how we interfere with and interact with our surroundings.

Whoa whoa whoa, let’s back up a bit here. Things are getting bit too deep.

Seven of Wands is a moody bastard which is what I love about it. Smearing his intricate tapestries with atonal drones and dissonant squeals Weise conjures an otherworldly atmosphere. The walls between dimensions are breaking down and time is turning in on itself. I find myself imagining inanimate objects taking on lives of their own and shuffling about the room, hovering above table tops and clanking back down again, knocking  into each other but never smashing, some other force in total control of their being. Weise builds these collages into a swarm but there’s never any real pay off, he taunts the listener, laughs at us.

This is masterful stuff. Thoughtful, engaging, haunting and sometimes funny. Just like the sleeve photo of Weise lying on the floor with a woman’s stiletto heel about to burst a balloon next to his head. I was stupid not to catch him live when he was out here late last year.