Can't "New Secret" LP
[RRRecords]
Can't is Jessica Rylan, but I've not heard any recorded material under the Can't name versus the Jessica Rylan name, so I'm not sure if there's normally a differentiation between the two or not. I have, however, seen some of these songs performed live, so what I can say is that it's pretty interesting how similar they are in live form to the recorded documents appearing on this picture disc. The tracks are all similar to one another in their usually strange meshing of vocal work with quaint electronics, with the title track acting as a good example by building in with low-end surges and sparse, glitchy electronics with intermittent humming and other strange vocal textures. I'm not really digging how the vocals interact with the spaces in between the electronics in this one as it's a little jarring, but that was possibly the intention. "Wishing Well" is similar but driven by singing, delivered through a filtered mic that has a warm, distant sound and lots of feedback, so the vocal delivery is pretty breathy in order to control the shift between the levels of volume and overdrive coming out of the mic. Oddly enough, "Driving in the Rain" then follows with nothing but an interlude of flute, of course recorded with a fairly dry and simplistic tone, and played in a similar manner. "The Way Home" then introduces a shuffling electronic loop with more of the same style of soft singing breaking in against the noise textures. The combination works better in this piece, however, since the vocal delivery is stronger and the interaction between the elements more effective - gradually shifting over to a busier sort of windy distortion and feedback blend similar to that of "Wishing Well". Side B begins with the sparse, glitchy, succinct chirps of "Messy Mystery", which rather quickly glide into a pulsing loop with some bright vocal effects for closer "Casting a Spell", which is a little more tuneful than the other material. By far the longest track, it kind of feels like a strange little song more so than an experimental piece, and definitely carries way more emotion with it than any of the other material. The manner of singing combined with the effects can make it pretty hard to make out the words to all of this stuff, but you can tell that there are actual words being enunciated, so as textural as it all may be, there are melody lines and lyrics involved, which is an odd union against the noise that, if nothing else, absolutely gives this work its own identity. The picture disc is housed in a clear sleeve that lets the record do the talking, with a nice looking watercolor painting on one side and handwritten text with a few phtos collaged on the other. Like I said, If nothing else, this is something all its own. I've never heard anything like this before, and probably never will if Jessica Rylan's name isn't tied to it. It's not the kind of thing I would listen to regularly, but I'd really like to hear more work along the lines of "Casting a Spell", which is actually a really curious and moving composition that creates more of an atmosphere. Very strange... (6/10)
Running time - 35:00 (approximately), Tracks: 6
[Notable tracks: The Way Home, Casting a Spell]
RRRecords - http://www.rrrecords.com

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