Paul Hood - cplastsics

Paul Hood
cplastsics
Twothousandand
2++8

“cplastsics” is a collection of eight improvisations by London-based turntablist Paul Hood, some live, some in studio. Not dissimilar to the general attack utilized by Martin Tetreault or (when in turntable mode) Otomo Yoshihide, Hood tends to set up a rough rhythm through the rotation of various pieces of vinyl and, one assumes, other objects, laying something of a matrix over and through which he layers and interweaves feedback moans, rattles and various effluvia. In common with several of his label-mates (including Michael Rodgers, Anthony Guerra and Joel Stern), Hood almost always has lurking somewhere underneath a decided melodic sensibility. No matter how arcane or abrasive the surface aspect of the music is, there’s a certain smoothness, a calm relaxedness that leavens the pieces very attractively and adds to their cumulative power, especially on surging tracks like “Press Hold”. But he keeps it in check. When he veers dangerously close to cloyingly sweet organlike chords on “Career System”, Hood wisely tosses in casual handfuls of harsh static; no space-outs here. Not all the pieces are so successful and there’s a run of tracks late in the disc that more or less treads water (though not without interest, simply lacking the spark of the first several). Here, he turns things down a notch or two and has a little bit tougher time dealing with a more restricted palette; that ol’ fashioned sparse improv, she’s a hard one to tame. While the next to last selection, “Large Country Building”, seems to be something of a brief, retrograde nod to the ancient, dimly remembered tradition of the Marclay school of manic scratchitude, the disc closes out quite beautifully with “Hospitality”, a delicate and loving exploration of the interstice between controlled feedback and barely grazed vinyl that churns and builds wonderfully.

A touch uneven, “cplastsics” at its strongest is very enjoyable and engrossing and is well worth a listen (and arrives in a bright orange sleeve sporting a superb photo by Rodgers). I’m very much looking forward to hearing further work by Hood, including a soon-to-be-released trio with Guerra and Stern on Paradisc.

~ Brian Olewnick