xaventaner
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Posts: 6
(4/16/04 10:27 pm)
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First review of angry eelectric finger (splitch @#%$ one)
I got it in the post this morning
So here it is the taster album for the forthcoming three CD set Angry electric finger. Here we have four tracks. All based around one Nurse piece. The original from NWW, and variations from Cyclobe, Irr.APP.(EXT) and Jim O’rourke.
First track is the Nurse only track titled Root Canal Splinter (penetration mix). Unfortunately the song opens with the lazy drone intro from Beware the African mosquito… from Man with the woman face. I always feel a bit disappointed when the first thing you hear from a new CD is old material rehashed. And this is not the only rehash. The drone is also joined by the chain/cymbal sounds used on the Disintegrate Blur 36 page 03 track from the NWW/C93 split Bright yellow moon. But thankfully these are the only two uses of older material and the track doesn’t bare much resemblance to either of the sampled tracks. In fact Root Canal Splinter has a very apocalyptic sound with many angry distorted drones and effects raging in the background. The atmosphere is very large and oppressive, with what sounds like explosions and animal calls included. There is a pretty constant drone which sounds like a distorted Arabic instrument which I have forgot the name of, it’s a kind of flute. Metallic, oppressive and dark are the three words to describe this song. The noise fades out by 10 mins and we are left with some very electronic sounding mid pitch drones and distortions.
Next is Cyclobes contribution titled Paraparaparallelogrammatica (great title). This is (at this early stage) my favourite of the four tracks. Cyclobe lend their ambient space effect laddered sound to the nurse track giving it a huge epic feel much like some of the track of the Cyclobe album the visitors. The horn like opening drone is joined by a range of tinkles bells and bass drones creating a spacey atmosphere of expectation. Then at 3.40 the track explodes into a smashed up and warped version of the Nurse original with the angry drones briefly making a fleeting appearance heralded by more of Cyclobes powerful horns. This fades out to 6 mins before some very sweet sounding high pitched tones ring for a more sedate atmosphere. However before you can relax the track again slams you into a wall of dread distortion drone and doom. This is like an oppressive abyss of organic noise filling every corner of the room. This eventually subsides around 10 minutes to a lovely keyboard progressive accompanied by the bright yellow moon chain and cymbal sounds. This track is pure melodrama. Great stuff.
Next we have Irr APP (EXT) who’s contribution is called Mute bell extinction process. This begins more slowly with what sounds like warped tapes of children playing in the distance, this odd beginning is then turned into what I can only describe as a funeral drone with the appearance of a quite harrowing gong which sounds like a death knoll in the depths of hell. There seem to be sounds of flutes in the distance like some far off carnival or procession. The sounds from bright yellow moon reappear much more forward in the mix, and you can now hear they are made up of the sound of what seems to be a bicycle chain being spun. All sorts of other odd sounds are slowly added to the mix, mostly field samples of birds, eating and a very odd sound that sounds like darth vader breathing. I think some of the field recordings are the same as those on the musty odour of pierced rectums mini CD. Other more mechanical sounds continue to enter and leave the mix during the tracks 11 minute duration. I think the compositional style of this track can be compared most to Salt Marie Celeste, it is certainly the darkest track on the album.
Finally we have Jim O’Rourkes version titled Tape Monkey Mooch which I would say is most like the Irr APP (EXT) version but a lot more subtle and less oppressive. It starts like the Nurse version with the Beware the African mosquito drone. There are a great deal of odd and quite intriguing metal scrapes and squeals in the background and a very nice organic sounding sweep that glides across your ears. Some very sweet sounding bells and tinkles are also used to great effect. I like this build up better than the Irr APP (EXT) version. This has a more stately feel to it, like nature weaving in the trees. By four minutes we get a sound that seems to be a recording of jet taking off but this is soon warped into something much less recognisable. The Bright yellow moon samples drift in also. By 5 minutes we seem to be in some crazed factory populated by organic living machines and the atmosphere is a lot more tense. The sound of what to me sounds like a ping pong ball in an empty washing machine takes over coupled with light radio interference static. This then slowly slips back into the drones and atmosphere of the start of the song. But a lot more dreamy sounding with some reversed high pitched sounds and what sounds like scissors. I would definitely describe this track as the most otherworldly and surreal of the four on offer. The track eventually fades out among a delicate drift of bells and static. Lovely. In all I would say this is a much more drone orientated album, much like Man with the woman face or even Current 93s In a foreign town in a foreign land. I would have liked to have seen some tape manipulations and stuff more like Chicken concrete of She and me fall together….but that’s just me. I father hope the three CD set will contain a wider variety of styles and sounds. And the use of old material in such a blatant way is always a bit of a let down. But still if I had to give a rating I would give 7/10.
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