Outermost "s/t" CD
[Brise-Cul]
40+ minutes of noise from this longstanding Japanese project, consisting of unreleased material recorded between 1998 - 2001. For the most part this is fairly rugged, somewhat lo-fi harsh noise, but the focus is certainly not on blazing a path of destruction straight through your ears. Sure, there are a lot of chaotic arrangements and jumbled cuts or quick changes in the compositions, at times stopping on a minimal loop or texture, but even in longer and more consistently abrasive tracks like "Jank Cabaret" the distortion isn't overly intense. And many of the tracks, the majority in fact, clock in at fewer than two minutes each. "Who Wants the World?" contains some manipulated beats present amidst the distortion, "Spank" is very minimal and based around simple loops and stuttering sounds with no layering, etc. The 13-minute "Election I$ Show" is my favorite piece herein, somewhat surprisingly, as something about it seems more calculated and powerful... the use of biting feedback, dense and rough distortion, a few quick loops, tons of chaos, etc. In a way it's a more potent blend of everything that this release has to offer. Like "Who Wants the World?", closer "Human Stupid" also brings in some beats, but the brevity and sheer insanity of the track's cutup arrangements and harsh distorted textures is far more memorable and interesting. The CD-R comes in a slipcase printed in heavy black ink on off-white stock, and the artwork is pretty minimal. I like it, though. Everything is high contrast and the typefaces are an interesting fit, too. My overall feeling about this release is that it's really not bad, but it is rather forgettable. Very few moments jump out at me and pique my interest, and in many cases I'll have gone through three or four tracks without even realizing it. I don't know, it's definitely decent, and I like some of it, but... it's not really doing much for me. I don't get much of a feeling from it, more so that I can enjoy it as background music. It's nothing that makes me want to actively think about what's taking place. (5/10)
Running time - 42:26, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Election I$ Show, Human Stupid]
Brise-Cul Records - http://www.brise-cul-records.cjb.net

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