Derivative Remix

One of my remixes has been included on the Derivative Netlabel compilation and…and…and… (Disquiet Junto derivations of The Conjuncts by C. Reider). The track was originally done as part of the Disquiet Junto  project, which posts a set of constraints every Thursday and invites people to share their contribution via SoundCloud. My track is called "mateimartainment".

Nick Butcher - Bee Removal (review)

I wrote this Nick Butcher review a while ago and really liked the record. He even emailed me to say he enjoyed my review, thought I think that was just a pretense to ask if we'd put the correct URL for his website with it. It looks like he does more visual art than music these days: http://nickbutcher.net/

artist: Nick Butcher

album title:  Bee Removal

label: Home Tapes

format: CD

release year: 2008

rating: 8.2

Nick Butcher has no lack of artistic outlets: painting, printmaking, bookmaking, design, and music all emanate from the Chicago studio he shares with girlfriend/collaborator Nadine Nakanishi. His output is tied together by a raw, homemade aesthetic that focuses on raw textures and happy accidents. Its no surprise his music follows the same path, using homemade electronics, field recordings and unorthodox sound sources in long, ambient tracks that are as notable for their aural pleasure as their fine-art qualities.

"Tearing Paper" is 20 seconds of static and what sounds like the remnants of a big-band radio broadcast, opening the album with a brief shot of melody the presage the slow burn compositions to come. "Ryman" uses a soft repeating tone as the base for glitchy noise, sounding not unlike Autechre's recent work.

If it wasn't apparent already, this is pretty much music for headphones-only consumption and nowhere is that more apparent than the first epic of the album, the eight-minute "Geist/Coat", which is nearly inaudible for the first minute before a static drone slowly fades in. A single repeated piano note joins the noise, though its off in the distance as if sampled from an ancient 78. Age and disintegration are common themes here, as the past is manipulated and distorted into new forms. At about the halfway point, what sounds like piano and guitar drop single notes as sampled record skips synchronize to form a syncopated beat. This segues into backwards guitar and the low rumble of feedback before ending with a cluster of melancholy chords. The results, though utilizing avant-garde techniques, create a song with a definite flow between the sections that shows a grasp of composition beyond more primitive noise artists.

"Interior, then a Window" is perhaps the most traditional "song" on the album, owing more than a bit to Eno's work. A droning keyboard lays the foundation for the track, with other tones drifting in and out. There's a gentle melody, played slow enough to render it abstract. Little sparks of notes unfurl and disappear amongst the more chance-generated tones, creating the most aurally colorful track on the album.

The title track is trance music for Luddites; it has soothing tones, a glacial pace and interesting textures, but all of it sounds recorded from scratch and processed though any number of analog filters before painstakingly reassembled. The tones generated sound like they came from barely functioning synthesizers, and the whole song sounds stuck together with twine and glue. There's a dedication to craft here that's missing from most electronic music, which strives to remove the work of human hands.

"Sharp Note Singing" is, like "Interior, then a Window", a droning melodic piece, but at nearly 8 minutes it has much longer to develop its pastoral vibe. Like Boards of Canada it evokes images of nature and childhood, and its spare instrumentation means the listener can be immersed in the pure tones.

Artists like Nick Butcher can’t be stopped; whether it’s on CD, in books or on gallery walls, his style of imbuing his art with all the roughness and imperfections of its human creator means he has nearly infinite possibilities in creativity. Granted instrumental experimental music doesn’t have a very wide audience, but those that discover his little world are in for a treat.

Fuck Buttons review

Back in 2009 I wrote record reviews for a now-defunct website. Here's one I did for Fuck Button's 3rd record Tarot Sport.

artist: Fuck Buttons
album title: Tarot Sport 
label: ATP 
format: CD
release year: 2009
rating: 7.9

The English duo went and made a dance record. Not that Tarot Sport will be mistaken for Basement Jaxx anytime soon, but they've taken their homemade electronics and added grooves that make their lo-fi textures all the more enduring.

Opening with the longest track, the 10-minute “Surf Solar” is also the most intricately produced tracks on the album, combining chopped-up vocals and processed samples with operatic dynamics. That kaleidoscopic sound fades into a cloud of noise before leading into “Rough Steez”, which chops up the static with severe tremolo, making a solid foundation for a multitude of bleeps and gnarly distorted tones.

The group always manages to tow the noisier side of their work even when gentler pastures seem imminent; “Lisbon Maru” rides a soft wave of ambient tones until the soft yet insistent groove kicks in, but it’s the chopped-up spurt of static riding the beat that gives it character and keeps the song from a generic chillout sound. The watery, unhinged sample that springs to life more than halfway through the nine minute running time actually sounds like a hook, though its barbed tone lends it a nice offset to the midtempo drum machine beat.

Combining an organ with what sounds like steam escaping, “Olympians” strives for the same epic sweep of the gods of the title. The shuffling, vaguely tribal beat continues as they pile on hook after hook, with a satisfying 4-note motif appears at the halfway mark that adds even more grandeur. It’s not long before the repetition becomes engulfing and what initially sounded exciting becomes part of the overall groove.

The somber “Olympians” fades into the toy-store-on-acid insanity of “Phantom Limb”, which doesn’t develop much beyond the concept of employing as many noisemakers as possible. It’s a schizophrenic piece, and the sheer unpredictability is interesting, but it lacks the cohesion of the longer tracks. Instead of editing a jam down to its basic components, “Phantom Limb” is like fast-forwarding through hours of improvisation without much of a goal in mind.

“Flight of the Feathered Serpent” is a dizzying race to the finish; layering alternately straightforward and off-kilter drum loops and developing the riff from “Olympians” into an ascending psychedelic tornado. Its one of the longest tracks, and despite its limited palette it manages to survive on adrenaline alone, pounding away as it dares dance floors to succumb before suddenly dropping away. It’s that kind of unpredictability that keeps them fresh as they search for their own sound.