NO-CORE blog

You couldn’t be blamed for expecting Hagony to be a rather goofy and lo-fi affair. This is a project featuring Emil Hagstrom of Cock ESP and Jason Wade of the notorious Minneapolis band Faggot. When I first saw this project appear on MySpace, I think they claimed to exclusively play amplified empty beer cans, a statement which seemed perfectly believable. This CDR comes in an economical plastic sleeve with paper insert and no attempt has been made to cover the standard branding on the disk itself. Then there’s the cover art. You can see it here. It’s not terribly offensive, but it’s not safe for work. Emil’s face and those of some political figures are pasted onto a group photo of… nudists? The back cover has Wade’s face inserted into a newspaper article about a man who ate his underwear in an attempt to beat a breathalyzer test.

Okay, I think I’ve painted a picture for you. You would now probably be just as surprised as I was to find that this album is actually carefully crafted, detailed, and intricately-layered noise. Seriously. This is every bit as good and worthy of repeat listens as any noise record pressed onto 180 gram vinyl this year.

The first track is mostly varying layered tones, somewhere halfway between drones and piercing feedback. The way the tones almost harmonize here and there creates an unsettling mood, a tension builder that leads into the second track, which explodes in a dense squall of noise. Things proceed from there with these two properties, harsh/dense and subtle/ominous, more carefully intertwined. No recognizable instruments or sound sources emerge, although I’m pretty sure those are some kind of horror movie screams submerged in the mix. And then best of all, it ends too soon! This is definitely an album and not one of those 3-minute Cock ESP releases, but it doesn’t overstay its welcome.

I am 100% behind artists who do not take themselves too seriously. Sometimes however, such artists’ work deserves to be taken seriously itself, and this is a fine example. Now, someone repress this thing in a deluxe vinyl format already.

http://freenoise.org
http://www.myspace.com/hagony

In my book, this is a noise record which does lots of things right. First of all, I like to hear a mix of organic and digital sounds, especially when the lines get blurred. This starts out with some guitar work that would sound like speed-metal scales if it weren’t so aluminum-treble shrill. This repeats, but quickly gets cut up, chopped and blended into coarse digital noise. Or maybe the digital noise is produced separately and it just sounds like processed guitar, because like I said, the lines quickly blur. There are sounds that might be that squealing harmonics sound that metal guitarists do, but it also might just be noise, or feedback, or who knows.

Another thing I like is that there are no obvious loops running. Sounds come back but they continually vary and get layered up in shifting combinations. I never feel like I’m listening to something on repeat. There are elements of musicality throughout, but there is never a song that appears. There is just one big track on this album, perhaps with different sections or movements, but all tied together by common sounds and textures. This definitely sounds like one coherent piece, while at the same time constantly changing.

CSection is the work of Alex Nagle, also the guitarist in the Philadelphia band Satanized, who is credited in the liner notes with playing “Guitar, CSound.” I found that CSound is a music programming language, but I’m not sure if it has another meaning. If this is actually some kind of combo of pseudo-metal shredding and ultra-nerdy computer programming, then I am seriously impressed. No idea if this could be performed live, but I would really like to see such a thing.

This is on cool Philly noise/etc label Malleable Records, and comes in a very nice gatefold cardboard case with silkscreened art. (by markpriceisafactory.com)

http://www.malleablerecs.com

http://www.myspace.com/thetruecsection

No, not THAT Kevin Shields. This is (obviously?) the one-woman noise project named “Kevin Shields.”

I’ve seen some debate over this naming choice bouncing around the internet. Is it brilliant? stupid? funny? deceitful? Apparently down at SXSW there were at least a couple of indie rockers who saw “This Kevin Shields,” thinking they were going to be seeing Kevin Shields, the My Bloody Valentine front-man. Is this a case of poking fun at indie rockers’ know-it-all attitude, or a case of trying to one-up their elitism? After all, to get the joke you have to not only know all about The Kevin Shields, but the more obscure This Kevin Shields too. While I am FOR confusion and anarchy in the music world, I do have to wonder if it’s setting low expectations for yourself to make the assumption from the get-go that your project will always remain obscure even compared to an already-rather-obscure (to 99% of the world) musician.

But that’s more than enough about that. This IS an album after all, so part of what matters ought to be how it sounds. Here we’ve got several slabs of good, solid harsh noise broken up with some quieter interludes to keep it all in perspective. Opening up with some light plunking on a keyboard, no doubt intended to trick you into turning up your stereo, you quickly get dropped into harshness territory. That thick stuff, Incapacitants-style perhaps, the rumbling and shrieking and grinding, borderline-white-noise kind. There’s plenty of changes happening throughout to keep noise fans listening (despite the title, “The Death of Patience”?), even if some of the moves might seem familiar. You’ve got your brief moments of high-pitched feedback tone, your pulsing buzzes, your waterfall-of-broken-glass sound.

It’s all rather nicely paced, with quieter moments of some more keyboard fiddling and what sounds like echoey contact mic fiddling breaking up the harshness. The fidelity is a little more cassette-tape quality than the digital brightness of Merzbow releases, but I think any harsh noise fan would be totally pleased to give this some listens. On CD and co-released by Deathbombarc, Entropic Tarot, and EMR Records.

http://kevinshields.tk

http://deathbombarc.bigcartel.com

http://entropictarot.com/home.html
http://www.emr-records.com/catalog.html

I know, there aren’t a ton of reviews here and already I’m writing about another release from Mincemeat or Tenspeed. I’m trying to be a bit more current though with these writings and I want to say something about this 12” release before absolutely everyone’s talking about it.

Mincemeat or Tenspeed (yes, that’s one band name) is Davey, a one-man table-top-of-pedals dude who makes noise that you could maybe actually dance to. Despite more than a decade of feedback-loop noise dudes, somehow none of them had yet hit upon the magic formula MMOTS uses to make his slamming, high-speed rhythmic noise jams. Or maybe they did and then they thought “Fuck this, this almost sounds like music!” Indeed it does. This doesn’t really fit in at all with the whole “serious noise artist” crowd, but it’s an excellent representation of what’s been brewing in Philadelphia’s low-brow party-noise scene.

I just saw a Mincemeat or Tenspeed show the other night and let me tell you, his skills with manipulating these sounds have become razor-sharp. This is evidenced on this new record too, which has 4 long-ish tracks. Most follow the MMOTS formula of starting with a simple, almost relaxing rhythmic sound. Track 3, “Root Furz” almost sounds like it starts with some kind of electronic banjo fiddling. Then out of nowhere some crushing distortion kicks in and we’re straight into headbanging territory. The rhythm shifts, slips and slides but keeps pulsing away. The last track is a bit more subdued, starting with some grainy electronic noises and building up to what sounds almost like distorted bagpipes playing a sad tune of escalating intensity.

This is a killer release from a real innovator who is finding new methods for making new kinds of music. Nice silkscreened art on the record sleeve too! Co-released by Big Monies Tapes, Malleable Records, and Deathbombarc.

http://www.myspace.com/mincemeatortenspeed

http://malleablerecs.com
http://deathbombarc.com
http://www.myspace.com/bigmoniestapes

I was thrilled to get this latest Unicorn Hard-On tape. This is the solo project of Val Martino, who has also done time in groups like the Laundryroom Squelchers and Gang Wizard and has a collaborative record with Leslie Keffer coming out in the future.

Unicorn Hard-On largely uses these devices called Electribes, which I believe were originally intended for making techno music. Here they are put to much better use, making sounds and music which is technically “electronic” but sounds and feels much more organic. We’ve got 2 long tracks on this tape, one per side. Side A is called “secret snarls” and starts off with a slow-motion, off-kilter beat and some unidentifiable buzzes and hums. Eventually a mid-tempo funk beat sneaks up on us and the ominous buzzing becomes background to some bird-call-like lead synth sounds. This is the part of the show where the audience would start nodding in unison, then maybe tapping their toes, loosening up little by little.

Side B starts out with some serious Dr. Who sounds with a heavy pulse-beat lurking in the background. Based on the slow-build style of side A, the side B track title (“all into it”) and that lurking beat, I though for sure this was going to spontaneously drop into some heavy, rave-style dance jams but it never quite did. Instead the echoey synthesizer sounds just keep heading further and further out into deep space. I’m sure at a loud, live show this would also compel people to start grooving in rhythm but on tape here it seems to play out more as a head-trip than a body-mover. The sounds of video games, laser battles, and alien swamp creatures calling to each other continually morph throughout the track.

This comes in a nicely tactile fabric wrap with some yarn, fur, and an attached title card. Very cool.

http://www.myspace.com/unicornhardon

Do It Big are my favorite new noise band. In my mind, this is how it’s supposed to be done. DIB are an all-girl band who crouch in a circle around a handful of drums, various microphones, toys, amps, guitars, bent electronics, and anything else they can get their hands on. Then they pound out some kind of slumber party drum circle girl-noise music that feels like an intimate ritual.

Some might ask why I’ve already used the word “girl” twice in this review? Why does gender have to matter, huh? And why am I calling them “girls” instead of “women?” Well, in this case there’s a reason. Do It Big are seriously all about being girls. Mixed into the noise you get cheerleading chants, baton twirling, pom-poms, pattycake songs, and at one show I saw, even frantic whispering of secrets into one another’s ears! (not shared with the audience) They even have a sort of lead vocalist who sings in a really surprisingly strong and soulful voice. That’s right, real singing! Not screaming or growling or mumbling, and no effects to hide behind. (maybe a little reverb) In the context of everything else, it feels like the kind of made-up songs that every girl recorded on her home tape recorder back in the 80’s, dreaming of becoming the next Debby Gibson.

So I’ve gone on and on about Do It Big the band and their music, but how about this recording? Well, unfortunately this is not as good as seeing them live. It would be challenging to capture the mix of amplified and natural sounds they play and this recording has a bit of an uneven mix and seems a little less powerful than it should. We wind up with a drums and vocals focused recording here, which still sounds cool but I wish I could hear more of the stuff. I’d still highly recommend it but I wish I’d also gotten that live cassette they were selling. On this CD you get what would basically be 2 live performances here, 2 long tracks.

This is on band member (also of Taiwan Deth) Angela’s Vanishing Records and comes in a silkscreened digipak case.

http://www.myspace.com/dibxxx

Alright, the first thing is, this CDR says right on the back of it that “No synthesizers, samplers, sequencers, drum machines, computers, or musical instruments were used to make this recording.” What was used then? Just a big table of effects pedals. Okay, we’ve seen and heard that set-up a dozen times before but I’ve never seen it sound like this. For lack of a better word, it’s amazing how musical this sounds.

I’ve seen Mincemeat or Tenspeed live and it’s just one guy head-banging and slapping pedals and somehow telepathically beaming this insane music out of his brain and through the speakers at deafening volume. Totally rhythmic loops and blasts and even occasionally some subtle, peaceful chiming or bird-like sounds. It really sounds at times like Lightning Bolt’s bass finger-tapping. This noise gets people dancing, I’ve seen it happen! You could even drive around playing it on your car stereo on a sunny day.

This is also a very music-like album in that it is a sensible full album length with a very sensible 10 song-like tracks. Perfect if you suffer from musical attention deficit (like myself at times) or if you’re not into waiting through the first 30 minutes of that noise record for it to start getting good. My only complaint is that this seems to be recorded direct and lacks the sonic blast and low-end boom that MMOTS has pumping out of a good P.A. Just hit the bass-boost and turn your stereo up to get the proper experience.

This is a self-released CDR, but MMOTS now also has a split LP with Drums Like Machine Guns out on Badmaster Records and a new full-blown LP coming out any second now.

http://www.myspace.com/mincemeatortenspeed