House of Low Culture "Gettin' Sentimental" --
[Robotic Empire]
Here's a double 7" from Aaron Turner's experimental project, this time with a few extra contributions from James Plotkin, members of Isis and Agoraphobic Nosebleed, etc. Much of this material is more experimental noise based that the House of Low Culture CD that came out on Crowd Control Activities, and this is what I had always expected and hoped to hear from the project. "Smoke Out Loud (AGNB Treatment 1 - 'The Break In')" consists largely of ambient hums and drones with some fluttering tones cutting into the foreground. The sound is thick and resonant, but fairly calm. The title track is guitar oriented (as with the project's older work), mostly clean with lots of delay. It's not as effective as its predecessor, but it's not bad at all, especially when the melodic guitars mingle with watery textures that add some density. Some vocal humming also comes in and adds a bit of a hypnotic effect. "In the Midnight Kitchen Pt. 1" uses thick low-end drones with some chime like percussive textures that create sort of a reverse playback effect. This is definitely the most laidback of the four pieces. "Nuthin' New Fer Trash Like You" contains a sample from one of the old redneck songs from "Gummo" during the intro, but then ventures into some rather menacing electronics that lay the foundation for some unexpectedly bright guitar harmonies. This material was recorded between 2000 and 2002 at a couple of locations, and the titles seem to be letting in a subtle sense of humor. Each record has its own sleeve, all of which is printed in full color on matte paper. There are some images of tress, cityscapes, small floral icons, etc. The presentation is rather basic and minimal compared to most of Turner's design work. Overall this is a great release, though. All of the compositions are fairly repetitious, but that's fine, and each piece has its own unique qualities that separate it from the others. This set of records really shows House of Low Culture growing and becoming more of a true experimental entity in my opinion. I hope future material is along similar lines. This release is a definite departure for Robotic Empire, I'm not sure if more of this type of thing can be expected down the road or not? (7/10)
Running time - 25:00 (approximately), Tracks: 4
[Notable tracks: Smoke Out Loud (AGNB Treatment 1 - "The Break In"), In the Midnight Kitchen Pt. 1]
Robotic Empire - http://www.roboticempire.com

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