Fuji Mum - An Eye For an Eye Will Turn the Whole World Blind

Artist Fuji Mum
Year 2010
Label None
Genre(s) Power Electronics...

One of the positive points about Noise and Power Electronics would be that almost anyone can have a go. You don’t necessarily need to know how to play an instrument or have a massive bank roll behind you to afford gear all you need is passion. One of the negative points about Noise and Power Electronics is that almost anyone can have a go. Despite popular belief there can be such a thing as bad noise. As a fan of noise I find it offensive when someone throws any bit of shit out there and expects it to be accepted just because it’s "experimental". Fuji Mum adopts this approach by serving up four tracks of nothing but feedback and vocals.

Whitehouse made power electronics using distorted synth and hateful vocals, even later on when they began to wander into the realms of self-parody they still had a good solid sound and were amusing. Most Power Electronics is built around synth and specifically high end. Fuji Mum is made up of one dude waving a microphone in front of an amp and shouting every so often. Everything has been bounced directly without any mixing or even consideration for composition. The four tracks here are exactly the same thing, microphone and amp feedback and some forced vocals. The overall sound is totally flat and reeks of doing one take and deciding that’s enough. The thirteen minutes here seem to stretch ever onward. This release is punishing in all the wrong ways.

This review isn't very well formed, I appreciate, but there's not much to work with. As I mentioned the compositional elements of the release ammount to recording feedback and shouting (Read: mumbling) vocals at the same time. Feedback is an important element of noise, no doubt, but it's usually much more than simple feedback recorded through a microphone. Some of the best Harsh Noise works are primarily feedback based, however the feedback is treated and run through effects to make it a part of an overall whole. There's nothing quite as interesting here.

The four tracks presented by Fuji Mum here just give off the impression that minimal effort was expelled in the planning (if there was any) and recording stages. It's an insult to ever other recording artist that actually puts effort in to their works. It comes across as someone who wants to feel like they are part of something, that they have created something, and chosing the easiest route to do that. In this case a musical genre that's based around DIY and often lack of structure. I'm wracking my brains trying to think of a piece of constructive criticism or even a positive point that I can include. I'm falling short on both fronts. These four tracks don't deserve your time or attention, and until this project shows that it actually has some artistic merit I advise you to avoid.

Where is This - Elegant Domesticity

Artist Where is This
Label Side-A-Records
Year 2010
Genre(s) Harsh Noise, Power Electronics

Elegant Domesticity is just one of a slew of recordings recently unleashed on the public by Mark Ward, Dublin based head of Bored Bear Recordings. I've not had a chance to hear any of his other output, but on the strength of this CD-r I'm defiantly going to be tracking more down.

The first thing that struck me about Elegant Domesticity was how calm it was, this isn't the average all out assault delivery seen in the noise "scene". Rather Ward favours a slower form of guerrilla warfare. The first track slowly pulses and throbs, an innate creepiness laced throughout. An almost Power Electronics (Whitehouse : Total Sex(ish) era) without cheesy vocals. A sustained creep through bushes to the prey. On headphones in the dark this track will have you checking over your shoulder and I wouldn't plan on sleep afterwords.

The second track opens with slightly more movement, higher pitches echoing within a swirling vortex. Sounding like a dimensional tear between Songs of Praise and an angry machine. This track is much closer to the Wall Noise genre, a strong unflinching top layer of noise and more subtle changes and areas of interest lurking within the mire. About half way into the track it begins to decay and shudder under the sheer wait of feedback, the noise is reshaped without any drop out or pause before descending into a violent harsh outburst towards the end.

The key word to sum up the experience of Where is This would be subtlety, Ward has conjured up two powerhouse tracks borrowing heavily for the culture and style of noise music en yet gnawing out his own niche. The tracks are deeply affecting without being notably so. This is music that you'll find yourself thinking about a few hours down the line.

Shuriken/Timothy C Holehouse Split Tape

Artist Timothy C Holehouse/Shuriken

Label None
Year 2009
Genre(s) Drone, PE, Noise Rock

Timothy C Holehouse opens his side of this split with a barely audible machine hum, a crescendo building into sultry drone. Dark and claustrophobic, sounding like a slowed heartbeat pushed through a pedal line. An incredible sense of foreboding, as if waiting for the end that is expected but no less scary. The first track, Swine Flu Boo... Who? is the audio equivalent of the pandemic, slow rumbles at first, growing closer and becoming louder until the whole world is screaming. The track, as with the threat of Swine Flu grows and grows until it suddenly begins to ebb out just as quickly as it arrived.

The next song is a mixture of static feedback, pulsating with a steady rhythm. As if every computer rebelled and marched upon the senate. The track rises up for one final attack and stops in its tracks. Holehouse's side is closer to Batchas style dark ambient to my ears, which is no negative point. Both these songs are fantastic, if a little short for my liking.

Next up we have Shurikens side which is split into four tracks. The first thing I need to say is how shocked I was, the music on this side is straight up rock. I actually checked to see I hadn't accidentally set my hi-fi to CD (Dinosaur Jr. was still sitting in the tray). I'm really pleasantly surprised by the first track offered up, amazing bass lines and angular guitar with fairly emotive vocals. The next cut Unison sounds like Sonic Youth meeting The Jesus Lizard in the Batcave, very noise rock/post punk. The music really is fantastic, it's especially nice to hear more "conventional" bands sharing a tape alongside noise musicians, variety is the spice of life n' aw that.

Amazing presentation on the release too, on tape printing for both sides (I can't tell you the amount of times I've been faced with an almost impossible attempt to work out Side A from Side B with some other tapes) and fold out J-Card with a skeletal theme.

Plurals/Timothy C Holehouse - Live split

Artist Plurals/Timothy C Holehouse
Label None
Year 2009
Genre(s) Drone, Noise, Power Electronics

Both artists deliver a live cut recorded in Brighton, November 2008. The tape comes with a train ticket (I'm not sure if this is every copy or not) and a fold out insert listing the artists, their tracks and containing pictures relating to the performances captured within (Above).

Plurals open their track, Midnight Cock Pie, with a warm drone, slowly growing in scope and intensity. Overtaking the listener like a wave. More and more high end is interjected into the mix, possible percussion lurking in the background. What sound like vocals enter the fray, becoming part of the sonic textures. Almost shamanic and used as part of the music, reminiscent of shoegaze styles. Voices offering up lullabies to soothe weary travelers. Subtle chimes augment the calming drones as they begin to morph into a slightly harsher variant, the vocals becoming more profound. At this point the music begins to take a darker edge, spacey sounds merge seamlessly into the miasma whilst the overall piece still maintains a very organic feeling. A million different atmospheres are gelled together perfectly in this live set and it's a pleasure to listen to. This is wonderful stuff, psychedelic and soothing.

The Timothy C Holehouse side, titled A New Dichotomy of Hate... That Tastes Great opens with chanting, which the audience become part of. The chanting is looped and delayed before fading into a dark drone with whispered vocals, at times quite close to Power Electronics, make no mistake about it where the vocals on Plurals side offered a psychedelic element the vocals on TCM's side are unnerving. Buzzing, dirty electronics rise up from the depths. Crashes and damaged beats hover over the buzz, starting out spacious but slowly coming together allowing less and less breathing space, ever teasing at a full out sonic assault. A fantastic mixture of high and low end and a lot harsher than that which came before.To simply call this noise would be a massive disservice to the artist, we're treated to a fucked up (in the best possible sense) mixture of psychedelia, power electronics, drone and harsh noise. Angry shouts in the background in a call and response style. Some almost Masonna esq sound manipulation leaping into your face. There are so many styles at play on this release that it's impossible to cover them all but each supports the others. This is what noise should be, ever changing and refusing to be confined to one specific sound.

This release really shows the best of both artists, all the stronger for their conflict of styles whilst both working within the over-arching genre of "noise". Plurals and Timothy C Holehouse offer two completely different kinds of psychedelic noise, catering to fans of both drone and the more harsh outputs.

Slogun - Bloody Roots (Short)

Artist Slogun

Label Circle of Shit

Year 2009

Genre(s) Power Electronics

The moments when you feel most angry slowly ebb away, leaving only self hatred and disgust.

The human race is a fucking cancer, polluting and destroying. The Human race is fucking scum, dripping with disease, they are the disease! The human race offers nothing to the world preferring to rape and destroy the resources. It is the human race that has borne serial killers, rapists and those that would steal innocence. Keep trying to hide in a fake world of Internet and TV. Keep trying to create something different. Understand that the human race is worthless, filthy and will constantly drip their disease upon one another to continue.

I am also human.