Chefkirk/Iversen "split" CD
[XV Parówek]
Chefkirk begins with a whopping 11 tracks of experimental noise to what I view as the most literal degree: Covering all the bases from ambient tones to harsher textures, minimalist loops and drones, a thick recording that's neither lo-fi nor the least bit polished, etc. Several of the tracks are a minute-and-a-half or less, with only a few creeping past four minutes. "PCB?s, Dioxin, Mercury, Lead, and Arsenic", for example, is but a minute of bass heavy ambient rumblings, followed by the longer "8106" that mixes such dark ambient textures with crispier high-end glitches and some piercing fits of quick distortion and jittery noises. "Chloramphenicol" is a little rawer and uses faint harsh distortion that slowly rises beneath low-end drones and an almost rhythmic loop, bringing in an excellently utilized vocal sample as well. "Pavbhaji", the longest piece, is more of a straight harsh noise piece, though definitely a bit more dense and minimal than is often the case - it's not exactly trying to rip your face off. Most of these pieces however are a well handled blend of various styles and structures. On the other hand, Iversen (Norway) takes but one composition ("Caligula Symphony D") running 21+ minutes, built up around carefully shuffling low-end drones scraping back and forth across undercurrents of very murky, dismal noises. It creates a rather sinister accent for the piece and lays the groundwork for the entire track. Just past the midway point things pick up and get slightly busier with some odd keyboard tones, but then calm back down to one of the more minimal passages, thus continuing along that general route until things come to a close. The CD-R comes in a handmade pink paper sleeve with an abstract photo glued to the front. Inside is a xeroxed insert with some art, tracklists, and recording information for each project. I'm not that big on the package aside from the image on the cover, which is a lot more interesting than anything else, but it looks inexpensive and does basically work. Very nice work from both projects. As a whole this release is a tad bit rough around the edges, but these projects are a great complement for one another. There are obvious differences between the two, but at the same time were this labeled a solo release from either of the two projects I don't think it would raise any doubts. Not bad at all. (6/10)
Running time - 51:04, Tracks: 12
[Notable tracks: 8106, Chloramphenicol, 10151, Caligula Symphony D]
XV Parówek - http://www.xvp.terra.pl

This review has been displayed 1862 times.