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Paul Taylor, "Worthless-The Final Act (Misogynist 2)"
For those who have found the more recent work of Sutcliffe Jugend and Kevin Tomkins to be too soft or restrained, the other member of SJ has put together a solo disc that’ll satisfy the need for angry and harsh power electronics. While there is a lot in common with the mid/late 1990s Sutcliffe Jugend, there is a bit more room for innovation, and even some tracks that work in rhythms and sounds more inspired by early electronic music rather than serial murder.
Technically, Worthless is the sequel to the first Misogynist album, Songs for Women, that was released without the artist’s permission in the late 1990s. Having not heard that disc, I’m not able to compare this work to that earlier one, but regardless of that, it stands strongly on its own. The opening “Act 1” sets the stage for what will follow: a normally disparate combination of low end noise buzz and squelchy tones met with almost string-like sustained passages, contrasting both an overly dynamic bed of noise with almost ambient and dramatic swells as well.
While it never reaches the manic fury that Sutcliffe Jugend’s two albums on Cold Meat Industries did, "Act 2" and the longer, closing "Act 11" border on that territory. The former is based on stammering and stuttering digital noises and sharp, razor like transitions between textures, while the latter is a slow building pile of traditional "harsh noise," layering on top of itself until it reaches the inevitable climax of feedback and roar. Also, both of these pieces feature vocals: the former is more of a spoken word piece between Taylor and Gaya Donadio, where both deliver their parts in an extremely detached, mechanical cadence, while the latter is Taylor alone, screaming through murky layers of effects.
Between these more traditional tracks is where the more notable shifts occur. "Act 4" opens with disturbingly conventional electronic rhythms and synth works that could be any electronic or techno project, except the slow overtaking by punishing feedback and screeching elements that take it far away from normalcy. "Act 9" features similar electronic rhythms, but far less conventional and much more harsh, placing it more in a modernized early industrial vibe.
Other pieces are far more low key and subtle: the chimes, guitar, and delayed xylophone like notes over time stretched tones on "Act 7" feel more Asmus Tietchens than Anenzephalia, and the opening of Act 10 allows some of Taylor’s untreated gentle guitar work to be the focus, even though that later transitions to full on brutality by the middle point of the piece. Both "Act 3" and "Act 5" maintain the traditional power electronic menace, but in a slow and calm manner that is much more menacing than overtly aggressive.
Paul Taylor’s first proper solo release shows that he has continued the Sutcliffe Jugend tradition of brutalizing electronic noise, but allows a fair enough amount of experimentalism and variation in sound to show through. This disc shows that, just like his bandmate from SJ and Bodychoke Kevin Tomkins, Taylor is more than happy to push the boundaries of experimentation rather than just stay in a quagmire of harsh noise and shrieked vocals.
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