Psychic Enemies Network "Psychic Enemies Network" SNB001 1998 (61:35)
I Feel (8:55)
Shut (6:19)
In This City (5:53)
Drawn (5:14)
From So Many (4:06)
Bricks (:34)
And Worn (1:39)
By the Flesh (6:47)
Of So Many (9:55)
Bodies (6:09)
In Its Streets (6:04)
Psychic Enemies Network: Matt Thorne (electronics, guitar, mix) and John Thorne (electronics, trap set, Djemba, percussives).
Psychic Enemies Network is a collaborative effort between 2 brothers, one in New Mexico and the other in California, by way of tape transfers via the mail. The brothers' instrumental music is of a mellow, electronic soundscape nature, though not necessarily ambient as most every track adds something in the way of light percussion, bell like tones, spoken and other samples and some guitar to the mix of drone and wash textures. The mood is fairly dark throughout, save for a few spots here and there, and most of the tracks blend together into one continuous, flowing piece with occasional recurring themes. "I Feel" creates an evocative, relaxing sense of motion with a building tom and bell tone rhythm, synth sparkles and drones. "Shut" and "From So Many" share a haunting sample, reminiscent of an old murky victrola recording, that swirls around the stereo field and fades in and out. It's simple, but also very effective in creating an eerie atmosphere. "In This City" has a bit of everything ... an intro of crickets chirping, rain and quiet jazzy percussion, then a few minutes of drifting drones, then a gentle rhythm near the end accompanied by ambient washes, spoken and rattling samples. "Drawn" and "Bodies" depart from the darker feel with a jazzy assortment of clean guitar noodlings, flute, bells and light drum work. They're rather bright and cheerful, possibly too much so. "Bricks" and "And Worn" are brief and unnecessary interludes, the former comprised of an odd bass loop and percussion bits and the latter a synth melody, minimal percussion and sample collage. "By the Flesh" is almost Scorn-lite with mellow live drums and a sporadic bass groove over the samples and drones. "Of So Many" is similar to the opening track in it's sense of motion, but drops the bells in favor of a stretches of percussion, ambiance and a recurring instrumental sample that I can't for the life of me accurately describe. "In Its Streets" closes the disc just right with a Stephen Hawking-like voice box reading from the Samantha Dunn novel, "Lost in Translation" over a beautiful array of samples and ambient clouds. All in all this is a very impressive debut, especially for a DIY duo. I find the darker, more ambient feeling pieces such as "I Feel", "In This City", "From So Many", "Of So Many" and "In Its Streets" to be the brothers' strongest work. I look forward to hearing their future releases and will continue to spin this one not so infrequently...
Where did I get this cd? - from Psychic Enemies Network to review.