Kalma "Embarrassed" Disko Squid Rekords squid001 2000 (71:39)

Foam Sprayer (9:37)
Scrubbing Lockdown (1:39)
Hanging Out With Patty (:57)
Glamerousss Sundresss (7:59)
It's Three Beans but Mostly Sock (5:21)
Ventilation (5:23)
Freebasing Pimp Toes (10:13)
Pooper Scooper (7:29)
Toobsteak (4:50)
Suction (3:58)
Brownstain (:50)
Toothbrush (5:06)
Leye on El Richey (8:17)

"Embarrassed" is the debut release by Kalma as well as the debut from the NYC based label Disko Squid Rekords.  There's no information in the insert as to who Kalma is but the web site lists 10 names as musical contributors.  My guess is that the some are live musicians used as sample sources, a sort of sonic collective.  Kalma's music is a dense and chaotic maelstrom of melody, noise, samples and beats.  The sound palette and songs are delightfully varied, the programming skilled and attentive to detail and the overall vibe a bit ugly and a lot of fun.  The morphing wall of sound approach and whacky song titles make a comparison to Not Breathing inevitable but I doubt either would mind the compliment.  Some simplistic individual track comments:  "Foam Sprayer" sets the tone by churning up rhythms out of a muck of steam and industrial clankings.  "Scrubbing Lockdown" would probably make Alec Empire wet himself with it's ultra-aggro distorted guitar/bass noise, buried screams and rapid-fire percussion.  "Glamerousss Sundresss" (full mp3 available here) is a jackhammer with refined atmospheres, the masterpiece of the lot.  "It's Three Beans but Mostly Sock" makes great use of 'real' percussion sounds such as hi-hats and cymbals plus bass throbs.  "Ventilation" drops the beats altogether in favor of metallic tickings, mangled lo-fi voice recordings and a noisy ambiance.  "Freebasing Pimp Toes" builds a gnarly mix of what sounds like didgeridoo, breaking glass and empty bottle tappings over a thick bed of shimmering keyboard gurgles.  "Pooper Scooper" rips it up with distorted traschcan breakbeats, big bass swells and a swirling bell tone.  "Toobsteak" slows the tempo down but is still relentless with noisy bass heavy beats in the latter half.  "Suction" is also slower in a subliminal underwater dub style.  "Toothbrush" is very squelchy and quirky.  "Leye on El Richey" seems like it might be a subdued finale at first but after a few minutes you become aware that all hell has slowly broken loose.  All in all I'm thoroughly impressed.  Kalma is another shining light in quality electronic music from the States.  If you don't hear them now, you will later ...

Kalma at Disko Squid Rekords

Where did I get this cd? - promo from Disko Squid.

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