Chefkirk "Go Vegetable!" CD
[Brise-Cul]
Well, the first track may be a mere thirty seconds of not-so-abrasive sounds, but "9242LFTO" quickly follows with five minutes of minimal distortion that's quite loud and destructive on the ears, with lots of fluttering movement, shifting electronic blips and glitches, and eventually some slightly more atmospheric low-end rumblings and crumbling high-end feedback. The 10-minute "30904" is softer as a whole, using machinated loops and some of what seem to be field recordings of sorts, at times getting more distorted and thick (in an unconventional manner) or alternately minimal and ambient in scope. "10152LFTO" is another long one (7:46) that alternates between thick low-end rumbles and harsher foreground sweeps, the latter of which are less frequent. After another short track of loops and generally simplistic maneuvers, "Satan is From Texas" closes with 11+ minutes of eerily melodic noise that builds around lots of sinister distorted twists and turns - my favorite track on the disc, sans its unnecessarily humorous title. The stereo panning becomes a bit more obvious and pressing on the ears, and overall there's perhaps more atmosphere in this composition, without shedding its improvisational looseness. As the track gets more towards harsh noise there are minimal bursts that sound like vocals, and I'd love to hear that explored to a larger degree. The CD-R comes in a slipcase printed in heavy black ink on white stock, and there's not much to look at. Plain text, a few vegetables, etc. The odd thing to me is the presence of one seemingly serious title ("A Look at the Past"), two silly titles (the title track and aforementioned "Satan is From Texas"), and four nondescript alphanumeric titles. As everyone likely knows by now, I'm just not a fan of "humor" or lightheartedness in experimental noise. I see a CD-R with vegetables on the cover and I become disinterested. Alphanumeric titles, while not necessarily suggestive of thought, do fit Chefkirk's diverse palette of sounds, and I do like some of this material a lot. I just have a hard time taking something seriously when radishes and carrots are starting back at me all the while, you know? This project is promising, if not somewhat disjointed. I just wish I could get a handle on the thought process behind this material (i.e. its intentions). Not bad. It's still not "there" yet, but not bad. (6/10)
Running time - 38:56, Tracks: 8
[Notable tracks: 10152LFTO, Satan is From Texas]
Brise-Cul Records - http://www.brise-cul-records.cjb.net

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