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Death Convention Singers
A massive ensemble of New Mexico-based artists, DCS features no less than ten bassists amongst other multi-instrumentalists. At first blush I expected an unidentifiable cacophony of noise, which would not necessarily be a bad thing, but this self titled album is much more varied and open than I believed it would be. Across three long and distinct pieces, there is much dissonance, but also subtlety to be heard.
"I Wish They Could All Be Jemez Pueblo Gurlsss" (despite the morose project name, there is obviously humor here), is what most resembles what I expected from the line up.Initially waves of noise that blow across like desert winds, the resonating bass strings making themselves known.The orchestra of low end rumbles open wide up, surging in and out not necessarily in unison, but making their own idiosyncratic rhythms.
Jagged cymbals cut in leading into a marching band drum throb, volume levels pushed into overdrive and adding an extra layer of dissonance.It becomes a pleasantly messy, ramshackle combination of drums and feedback that locks into a rhythm, but then is allowed to float around on its own inertia.It makes for a structurally simple composition, but its monolithic brutality is what shines.
The second composition, "The Ballad of Sandoval County," is significantly different.Also leading off with a slow spaciousness, complete with distant wind chimes and muffled ambience, there begins an emphasis on amplifier noise and tightly clipped strings.The build is slow and deliberate, with the first ten minutes being surprisingly arid for such a sprawling project.Even when bowed strings and a more traditionally musical twang appear, it is only briefly before it hides again.
The shorter (as in ten minute) "Beso De Ese" embraces noise rather than space and ambience.Sputtering, scratchy distortion and amplifier detritus come together in a morass of sound, without any sort of instrumentation being identifiable.Overall it is more disjointed and loose.Feedback swells are cut and shaped to resemble rhythms before everything blows up in an overdriven wall of power electronics noise.
As a whole, this album is an oddity to say the least; with such a large ensemble making music that is more nuanced than abusive, and more inviting than abrasive.When everyone decides to let loose and explode sonically, it is a satisfying, bombastic mess.When things call for a lighter touch, the dry, oppressive heat of the desert is conjured beautifully via wonderfully indistinct sounds and passages.
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