Admittedly, I’m a total sucker for this sort of thing. Drones, I mean. Thick, juicy, dense, ropy, surging drones. We’re Breaking Up is electronicist Michael Rodger’s nom de musique for this particular incarnation of his creative output, having previously released the excellent “Long Distance Endless Endless” on the same label last year. There are two tracks, both over 25-minutes long, that I’m going to guess are entitled “Here” and “Above”. I could be wrong.
“Here” begins with a low, throbbing hum, churning and uncoiling, dark and oily. It soon grows in volume and concentration, fixating on something of a tonal center, becoming the central spine for various appendages layered so densely that it’s difficult to pick out individual strands, easier to hear the apparent echo of something just gone by than to recognize it at the moment. About nine minutes in, things splinter, lubricants threaten to run dry and we begin picking up snatches of conversation, a young woman glimpsed through jackhammers and sheared metal. There’s a rhythmic surge that, combined with the blinding cacophony, recalls the more ecstatic moments in primo Branca. After several minutes of this raging torrent, things even out into a still-strong but smoother flow, the earlier tonal element corralled into a single, oscillating line, buffeted by low, molten growls. A wire pulls loose and flails across the floors, shooting sparks, as the massive engine reluctantly winds down and blinks out. A wonderful piece.
After a minute of silence, “Above” bursts into existence, all hisses and static possessing a subtle vocal quality. There’s more grain here, more whine of metal against metal and a quicker pace, the gears cycling somewhere over 120 rpm. Again, around nine minutes in, steam valves begin cracking and leaking under pressure, injecting foreign elements into proceedings, sandy grit and keening whistles, the thrumming dynamo straining to keep up, losing cohesion, regaining it, losing it again. The air crackles, ozone-saturated. A rush of white noise all but masks some jittery, high-pitched rubbings, blurring the sound field before subliming into random patches of static detritus, the earlier roar now a faint echo, far away. Grinds to a halt.
“Here and Above” is yet another fine, fine release from this superb label. Check it out.
~ Brian Olewnick
Posted by on April 4, 2004 1:27 PMTwoThousandAnd is really standing out in terms of quality, originality, and diversity of the music. Almost everything I've heard on this label has been good to outstanding. I dig the packaging too. I even like those all-black CDs.
I really liked the previous We're Breaking Up, and I'm anxious to hear this one.
Posted by: Sergio Zamora at April 5, 2004 4:19 PMhe's playing Tonic on April 21, as part of Dion Workman's New No York series.
Posted by: Jon Abbey at April 5, 2004 11:49 PMYes, it's a splendid release from a label to watch out for. Have you heard Mattin's GORA Brian? Knowing how much you like noise that one's for you!
Posted by: dan warburton at April 6, 2004 2:53 AMBeen meaning to get to GORA for a while. Will do one of these days. Or by "noise" are you yanking my chain more along the Yau/Prurient line...? But I've liked what else I've heard by Mattin pretty well.
Yeah, just noticed the Rodgers gig the other day and plan on being in attendance.
Posted by: Brian at April 6, 2004 6:55 AMNah, he doesn't throw up all over his hard drive, but there are some hair-raising moments. Try his new one with Malfatti too - that's a cracker.
Posted by: dan warburton at April 6, 2004 8:02 AM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................