Starlab: basement recording studio thing in the midst of Union Square junkyards, small, intimate, sweaty
Rise Set Twilight: husband/wife duo Michael T & Linda Aubry Bullock filling in for Animal Hospital at the last minute, homemade analog synth board + electric harp, underwater wind, ice cracking, mercury tones, FXed harp by way of distorted guitar
Jane Austen: blink and you missed it, elusive pop, quietest set in the history of live music, minimal plinking, electronics glitching, tape tweaking
Sam Hamilton: White Rainbow style beat drone sans third eye, deafening in comparison to previous Jane Austen set, guitar & electronics bloop & bliss, damn near danceable
Metal Rouge: wall of buzzing guitars stacked all the way up to heaven, rhythmic drums penetrated the walls, cultish chant moaning, as grandiose as that tiny room could handle, supreme drone psych euphoria
P.S. 4 out of 7 performers were female which is clearly some sort of record
Just for the record, this is the same contrabass hero Michael T. Bullock that I've writtenabout before. This tape was released as "Mike Bullock" but I needed to make sure that you all knew this wasn't some new Mike who coincidentally had the same last name as another Mike I'm a fan of. Anyway, he's got a new tape out on YDLMIER and it's a little less sparse free jazz noise than usual and a bit heavier on the minimal drone. Which, of course, means I love the shit out of it.
Two side long pieces, the first a live track from Virginia in 2009. It starts out hushed and delicate, barely there high end lace drones fighting for air over the tape hiss. Very subtle, very beautiful. Slowly, an additional tone gets added here and there, creating a swirling shimmer effect that's still as quiet as can be. And then, just like that, the volume gets bumped up, and some distant muted deep engine rumbles perk up, eventually pushing the bliss out of the way, replacing it with a wash of gauzy static and stuttering machinery. Absolutely fantastic.
The B side is another beast entirely, sounding like it should actually be 3 different tracks. It opens with creaking & quaking, far away echos of heavy things being dragged across concrete floors, coupled with taps on the mic that makes me think it must be a field recording. Whistling wind and whispering moans fill the empty space for a bit until the organ comes in. God how I love organs. Bullock makes it somber & mournful, abrasive & gritty, at times the perfect foundation for a wall of harsh noise but never going that route, instead exploring its textures & letting it play with various bizarre companions.
Then something that can only be described as air scribbling comes in. I really have no idea what it is, how it's made, or even what to say about it. It just sounds fucking awesome.
The last few minutes are spent on a glitchy soundscape that I believe is crafted from "CD damage." Spacey static, scratching chaos, sonar blips, nothing I would ever expect to come from Bullock. But yet, here it is. Guy always catches me off guard. Like the closing moments with sounds of cicadas and an acoustic guitar loop. There's no WAY anyone saw that coming. And if you did, then go away because we can't be friends anymore.
Bullock from Boston and Lafkas from I don't know where team up for some contrabass dueling on Ceremonies To Breathe Upon and you reap the benefits. Yay, right?
There's just one 43 minute track and it's a fuckin doozy. It opens with a near static drone, breathing in and out in a way that almost makes it hard to tell you're listening to strings. It's an organic sound that completely empties my brain. Not in a meditative or transcendent way, but more like a numbing stress free kind of way. I just disappear. Become totally vacant. I never notice the water bubbling footsteps or the shift to a more melancholy tone. All of the nuanced subtleties in harmonics heading in a Stars Of The Lid direction, they just pass me by.
I come to about halfway in when shit starts getting eerie. Similar drones as to before but with a harsher edge. Swirling tones that make me think I'm being surrounded by phantoms. Hauntingly chill stuff, unnerving in a surprisingly pleasant way. I feel like I'm hitting puberty all over again, my emotions going crazy and I'm never really sure what I'm supposed to be feeling. All I know is that the finale is creepy as shit.
Ceremonies is a pretty killer record that hits all the right spots. Ambient neo-classical noise, sparse jazz, lush drone, it's all here and it sounds fucking great. Limited to 300 copies and packaged up in a lavish letterpressed sleeve and you got yourself a goddamn winner.
I Want To Review Your Music If you make music and you want it reviewed on my blog, just send me an e-mail. I would love to hear what you're making and give you a little more exposure in the process.
Disclaimer All of the music on this site is for promotional and sampling purposes only. If you enjoy it, please consider buying the record or going to see the band live. They will appreciate it, I promise. If you own the rights to a song on this site and you would like it removed, please contact me and I will do so as quickly as my tiny paws allow.
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