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Mamiffer/Pyramids
Although this is a split release, and the two artists inhabiting each side of the vinyl (or tape) are sonically quite different from each other, the fact that they both inhabit that nebulous void between metal, industrial and noise makes them a good pairing. While it is always clear what side of the release is playing, the two compliment each other quite well.
Mamiffer, the husband and wife duo of Aaron Turner and Faith Coloccia, contribute two rather different pieces on their side."Sophia" pairs Coloccia's understated piano playing with slow burning electronic noise.It is constantly changing and mutating, and eventually the piano and noise melts together into an oddly dissonant melody before closing on the harsher end.
"Tich√° Noc" leans more into the distorted end of the spectrum, with some delicate tones buried admits the static and feedback.Heavily treated vocals from both appear, and it even makes the leap into full on, bass-overdriven power electronics squall, but never for too long, and it continues to balance the more beautiful, melodic elements with the uglier, dirty ones.
On the other side, the enigmatic Pyramids (which also features Coloccia alongside a wider cast of musicians) goes for an occasionally prog-tinged, but overall more conventional electronic sounding piece in "This is One for Everyone".Stuttering canned rhythms lean into krautrock grooves at times, but the beats and lush synth passages never stand still, eventually transitioning over into improvised percussion and messy crashes.Given its unrelenting pace, it is disorienting at times, to say the least.
Even with both Pyramids and Mamiffer embracing a constantly evolving, soundtrack collage approach to their music, the results are quite different from one another.Mamiffer drifts more into the avant garde/musique concret world, while Pyramids brings the melody and rhythms of a more traditional rock band into this abstract composition.Their differing approaches work well together though, and each side of this album is the better due to its counterpart.
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