One-off partnerships can be a dubious proposition. Often they’re just an excuse for the musicians to showboat or goof off. The personal dynamics of collaboration may be interesting to players, but are irrelevant if the music can’t be appreciated outside that context. Mark Manning and Yann Novak avoid indulgence by making spacious, echoing pieces of ambient moan and murk. Dream Theater this is not.
With their pop game sharpened to a fine point, Guessmen are still exploring the noir-cartoon world of vocalist Alan Edge's head making them an appealingly dark-and-day-glo experience. The A side of this 7" single, "Black Balloons," forms like a murder of clouds stamped with an indelible paperclip-and-biro tattooed hook, the thick synth melody coming on like tar flavored honey.
Low Point's first vinyl release once again sees Hardwick trounce his unfortunate flipside ally. Although his side of the release is played on lap steel, Hardwick makes "Lost in the Memory" more reminiscent of '70s synth waves than the actual instrument.
I killed some time on my train journey home by briefly flipping through Manchild 3, the super cool Brian Walsby comic book that comes complete with a Melvins CD. The Making Love Demos disc that accompanies the package is simply a must for any die-hard Melvins head.
Taking a sidestep from Directing Hand’s vision for folk forms and improvisation, this live set is a collective’s ecstatic field holler for escaping reality. Recorded at 2005’s Glasgow Instal festival with a cast noise/free luminaries such as Dylan Nyoukis, Phil Todd, Karen Constance, Ben Reynolds and David Keenan, Alex Neilson leads a thirty minute charge of the doors of constraint.
This Ben Chasny (Six Organs Of Admittance) and Noel Von Harmonson (Comets On Fire) collaboration features two tracks previously available on cassette only through Folding. This super deluxe LP edition on Yik Yak is housed in a screen printed black on black (Fushitsusha style) package that folds out to become an inverted crucifix.
Even though I enjoy the work of noise-head Damion Romero, I didn't initially buy this 7" single for the music; it was the Maya Miller artwork and white vinyl combo that dragged me in.
The Hair Police side of this split c30 (apparently it's out on CD too) release sounds like it was recorded at the demolition of a shipyard. The clank of anchor chains barely heard over the almost identifiable charred runs up and down feedback scales. The thing is, the Hair Police Halloween show never happened.
This split 7” features two very different artists from Dublin: Paul O’Reilly is a softly sung singer songwriter and (retards) are no wave disco funk electronica or something along those lines. This is a bit of a lukewarm release, not bad but not essential by any means.
The free MP3s available online go back two years, but they show a band that's got a fantastic handle on the balance between sludgy noise and charming pop, unfortunately they don't seem to leave NYC that much nor do they update this website often.
