Another month, more reviews. I hope we are all settling into ‘The New Normal’ alright (different from the one Doug Pederson had in mind just a few year’s ago…). I doubt anyone reading this is swimming in disposable income at the moment (or ever), but if you can spare any for the artists being discussed, if their material seems up your alley, I am sure it would be appreciated. I don’t think there is any point speculating about the future or turning this into some solipsistic ‘Art In The Time of Covid’ exercise of the sort we’ve all been subjected to plenty by now. The live streams and tag’d record challenges are getting redundant and my Trump Bucks™ have already been converted into tactical gear, bitcoin stock and several truck beds full of boxed wine (can never be too prepared). I really do wonder how much longer physical releases will still be meaningful in any sense, but until tomorrow…We Dance!  

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Barn Sour – ‘untitled’ (no label, 2019) & “Horses Fucked Over The Head With Bricks” (Careful Catalog, 2019)

Barn Sour is some sort of semi-anonymous project from Winnipeg, CAN (at least that’s where “the stable is located”) with a few near-zero circulation cassettes and most recently a bonafide art single courtesy NYC’s premier retailer of sub-underground (did someone say “focused ennui?”) flotsam, Careful Catalog. Let us begin with this 2xCS package which I believe is comprised of two separate tape releases from 2018, simply titled “I” & “II”. Now, I’m no detective (well they’ve long since stripped me of badge and gun, and desk work just isn’t the same…), but I would not be surprised to find these curious transmissions having some sort of overlap with Korea Undok Group, that most excellent imprint operating from the same corner of the world over the past few years. This is especially true of the first tape, batted down by characteristically KUG-esque queasy electronics, though I might actually prefer tape no. 2, a more ramshackle affair of strange scraping tape loops, indoor miniature golf tournaments and cutting room sound scores from the final scene of Michael Tolkin’s ‘The Rapture’. Naturally the colorfully-titled 7″ has little in common with any of this, sounding more as if Bernd Lohaus contributed a track to the ‘Extended Voices’ comp. (my best guess anyway; I’ve not actually played it as I cannot condone such animal abuse). Beautiful packaging on that one, existing fully in its own inscrutable universe and all the better for it. If you’ve listened to multiple Glands of External Secretion CDRs in the last month AND can’t name a single track from ‘The White Album’ off the top of your head then consider yourself the latest recipient of a Highest Possible Recommendation. Tell these stinky horse fuckers ‘MAM’ sent ‘ya.

Figure Mass Evolution – ‘Machine’ & V/A ‘The Stock Market’ (I Am Elegant, 2020)

Two newest shats from this exciting enterprise out of Flushing, NY. The debut IAM release by Star really bowled me over last year, one of the best harsh psychedelic rides I’d been on in sometime, and these two seemingly-related (all the label honcho I’d guess, but it’s not always crystal clear) titles continue this most welcome sojourn to The Land of Mu. Figure Mass Evolution is, I believe, the first in an ongoing compilation of miscellaneous recordings from the last decade or so. Gross, hermetic-sounding crude noise blasts made in the interest of nothing, except passing away the stupid days I’d wager. Perhaps owing to the ugly artwork and sort of dissociated black humor of the whole package, I’ve seen comparisons made to other contemporary greats like The Gift of Music and Prose Nagge (could add Everything As Dung & Team Boro to the list…), which definitely makes a lot of sense sonically as well. A bit on the lower end of the spectrum as compared to Star’s more piercing quality, longer/more wayward and every bit as beautifully pointless. ‘The Stock Market’ is even more of a beguiling mess, as we’re first greeted with some strange inhuman moaning, before settling in for a full frontal aural tango by our old friends Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. An allegory: Suppose one night for dinner you had some Cheeses International, got a resultant Stomach Ache, were finally able to Pinch A Loaf, and were thus compelled to triumphantly proclaim “What A Smell”! This, my friends, is the ‘Stock Market’, and for those of you ‘lil munchkins still collecting noise about ballerina feet, it is high praise around these parts. Obviously everything sucks and civilization is crumbling before our eyes, but there are still some real ones making first rate trash these days and that does bring a smile to my face. This is music that truly makes you want to be somebody.

Jeph Jerman – ‘Voiced’ (CCC, 2019)

Jeph Jerman should need no introduction, but since this is a new column I’ll just say he’s one of my favorite sound artists ever. Hands To, City of Worms, Blowhole, Big Body Parts…it’s all good in my book. Many are the times I’ve wondered how he manages to get such detailed textures out of simple organic materials, or whether there really isn’t some ingenious editing technique producing the cavernous black hole emanating from my speakers (could it just be a particularly windy day in whatever barren field or desert canyon he was recording from?). Even counting myself a big fan there are still tons of releases I’ve not heard (Jeph’s a busy guy) and that brings us to this recent tape on the Dutch Counter Culture Chronicles imprint. We are told this S/S C90 is comprised of voice, hiss, birds and radio and I have no reason to doubt it. With these basic sources Jeph weaves a characteristically dense mass of recondite verbal tick and sundry aural confusion. While the results do have some definite Jerman-ian elements (the restless forward motion and use of ‘error’ as guiding principle) I can’t recall ever hearing him work with voice so prominently, making this something of a stand out in his vast discography. The track list indicates many short pieces but it really plays out like a single sprawling composition, at times reminiscent of some random mail art tape on VEC Audio Exchange or Widemouth, others in line with a heavy breathing ‘Audiopoems’-style self-exorcism, and concluding with extended riffing on blackhumour type repetitive, unintelligible phoneme clusters (the raven caws are a very nice touch). Comes with a nice eight page booklet which leaves more questions than answers as to how this all was assembled. In the unlikely event that anyone reading is totally unfamiliar with any of Jerman’s work, here is as good a spot as any to jump in.

People Skills – ‘Former January Ending Through 52 Weeks’ (Sophomore Lounge, 2020)

People Skills is the sporadically operating solo project of Jesse Dewlow, churning out bitter defeat since 2008. Some years (like the last one) see a relative flurry of activity, while others pass by with nothing. And that’s just fine. The LP in question was originally issued on tape in 2016, the inaugural release on Dewlow’s Saga House imprint, though this is the first I’m hearing it. For those unfamiliar with the PS M.O., material typically falls into one of two camps (with plenty of messy overlap): song-based, and soundscape type compositions. Regardless the approach, they are always morose affairs. ‘Former January…’ is perhaps the project’s closest to conventional song writing yet, which is not usually my preference, but I must say, I’ve been flipping this thing over a ton since obtaining. Perhaps it is the current state of unremitting existential dread we are all now subject to, but this record just seems perfectly suited for the times, a nice bowl of charcoaled porridge on cold, hungover mornings staring at an empty bank account and waiting for the other shoe to drop. The dexterity with which Dewlow moves between the worlds of downtrodden, near-twee miniatures and more expansive, endlessly bleak visions brings to mind home taping obscurities like Crawling with Tarts, Armpit, or the solo work of Roy Montgomery and Peter Jefferies. Standing tall (or maybe more like struggling just to get out of bed) in the proud tradition of Making Losers Happy.

Massimo Toniutti – ‘Cava xi.xi.86’ (Ferns Recordings, 2019)

Massimo is, of course, the younger brother of revered electroacoustic pioneer Giancarlo Toniutti, though prefacing an introduction of his own work in such fashion is admittedly a bit insulting, as these two great artists are on an equal playing field in my book. ‘Cava xi.xi.86’ is a recent reissue of a CS originally self-released in 1987, with two bonus tracks sourced from tapes of similar vintage, re-edited (to a degree not overtly stated) by Toniutti for the purpose of this release. I had heard clips of the original tape sometime ago, though I must say it sounds much better on this pro-dubbed CD than from whatever shoddy YouTube rip I’d come across previously. This is excellent material, a bit different from his two earlier tapes (it is here a sense of sound sculpture first comes into play), mostly acoustic, or acoustic sources bounced to tape, creating real time collages of beguiling textures/sonic interactions. Many of the pieces are underpinned by what I suppose you’d call a percussive element, but they are never rhythmic, and are very repetitive and minimal though not in an ambient or droning way. More so than his bother’s work I am reminded of Paul A.R. Timmermans’s ‘Meta’ LP, or Relly Tarlo’s ‘Tracks 2’. Those are great records BTW. The two bonus tracks are excellent and happily do not suffer from any sort of stupid digital or otherwise ‘updated’-sounding nonsense; you’d never know they weren’t part of the original release. A welcome addition to Massimo’s small but flawless body of work. As I always say: “It’s all coming up Toniutti!”

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Do you record marginal music to keep yourself from going insane? Would you like for it to be reviewed? If so, e-mail crisisoftaste [AT] gmail.com. Only physical releases will be considered, and reviewer reserves the right to discard upon unsatisfactory listening experience, but if what you send is good then that shouldn’t be a problem.