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Daniel Menche and Anla Courtis, "Yagu√° Ovy"
With an instrument lineup that includes Courtis on pizza tins and Menche on rocks and snow, I was expecting an odd album, and that’s exactly what I got. Odd, but under the careful processing and direction of Menche, a strong album that sounds a bit different than either of the artists’ usual works, in a good way.
"El Relincho" starts out with staticy loops layered over rapid pizza pan metal percussion, initially high pitched pings that eventually are met by deeper, almost gong-like resonances, coming together like some sort of extremely primitive gamelan.There's a constantly flowing rhythm under the noisier elements.
It's an ever so subtle transition, but as the piece goes on, it's like the distortion knob is slowly cranked up, going from barely perceptible at the beginning of the side, to somewhat noticeable in the middle, and finally drowning out almost everything else towards the end, the metallic dings are echoed, reverberated, and stretched out into an abrasive squall.
On the flip side, "Runa-Uturunco" initially layers clattering rocks and deep, bassy guitar tones that crawl in a slow motion menace.The time-stretched guitar muck nicely balances out the rocky clatters to give a geological vibe to the song, which isn't a statement I'd ever have expected to write about music, ever.
Again, as the piece burns on, Menche once again slowly, but steadily amps up the processing, here focusing more on manipulating the guitar, which becomes fuzzier and more formless as it goes on.It reaches a climax of full on mid-range guitar noise that manages to be blaring, but not overly oppressive or abrasive, before returning back to the clatter.
Compared to a lot of Menche's recent output, his work here is less harsh and drone focused than it has been, making it stand out a bit more unique within his discography.The addition of Courtis' odd percussion and guitar contributions adds a lot as well, making it an album that’s not quite noise, but not quite improv, but really has some of the best qualities of both.
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