Jessica Rylan (also known as Can't) opens up this split with seven tracks of fairly glitchy, lo-fi electronic noise. The songs average around three to five minutes apiece and tend to be pretty consistent within their individual timeframes, using humming signals, raw distortion, clicky glitches, and other such gadget-y electronic textures to create truly minimal compositions that could easily pass for random sounds generated by machinery or any such electronic device. The tracks don't all sound alike, however. They're definitely repetitive and somewhat one-sided on their own, but each one has its own space to explore - from the fuzzy buzzing of "Mechanical Dancer" to the almost melodic fits fighting to be heard in "Gravelled Ruts". "Fishbowl'd" is a bit more ambient in overall tone, but the stuttered structure that cuts in and out and breaks up the flow falls more in line with the other passages, and it's fairly similar to "Iantrogenic Epistlemology" overall. "Que Tal #4" gets a little brighter on occasion, using lots of flitting movement and quaint rumbles/scratchings that maintain a raw sense of warmth to the character of the recording, but still sound a little different than the other selections simply in the manner that everything was documented. 2673 then closes with two massive tracks that are a pretty good match against Jessica Rylan's work. Each track tops 16 minutes and deals with sparse electronic textures that have a distant sort of sensibility to them - almost as though they were recorded in some sort of live setting or what have you. There's a little more movement and a lot more high-end brightness to these tracks, but aside from the differences offered in the two varying styles of recording, the general approach feels pretty similar. I guess you could say that 2673's work is a bit more gradual and fluid in that it kind of crawls along and shifts with time, and the few jolts and twists aren't all that choppy or jarring. "Wings to the Bird, Fangs to the Beast" has some nice, chilling ambient moments that I'd like to hear explored further, for sure. But sadly I had trouble getting "Super Lungs" to play properly, as the CD continually choked on me to no avail. Sorry! The CD-R comes in a slim, clear DVD case with a simple insert that has some scribbles and text printed on it before being coated in a metallic pink looking spraypaint - as has the face of the disc. So it's simple and certainly D.I.Y., but it gets the job done well. This isn't the kind of thing that I'd listen to all that much as I tend to prefer the darker and more atmospheric side of experimental noise, but it's not bad at all for what it has to offer. Rylan actually has a degree in electronic music, and one of her self-described focuses is "the design and construction of modular synthesizers which use analog electronic circuits to create a diversity of sounds", so that along with some of the more artistic enddeavors that she's explored through sound installations is a pretty good indicator of the type of audience that I think would really enjoy this work. There's definitely a certain niche of the noise world that's quite appreciative of this style of minimal, uncategorizable experimentation, and I think those listeners would be well advised to seek this one out.
[Kitty Play]
Running time - 64:51, Tracks: 9
[Notable tracks: Gravelled Ruts, Fishbowl'd, Wings to the Bird, Fangs to the Beast]
Kitty Play Records - http://www.kittyplayrecords.com
