rene hell / pete swanson - waiting for the ladies - shelter press - lp - 17$
Vinyl reissue of the massively limited split LP from Yellow Swans' Pete Swanson and darkened Kosmische operator Rene Hell, who each supply a side of new music.On Swanson's side, rhythmic electronic signals clear the debris after a few introductory minutes of his signature noise-wash, cycling through nervous patterns of hum before the detritus starts to very incrementally build up again. It's in these more methodical moments that you get to hear a side of the Yellow Swan that's seldom made this explicit. Largely devoid of the fiery plumes of feedback that constitute so much of his discography, for some stretches, 'Self Help' captures Swanson in nurturing mode, coaxing the rhythmic qualities of his music to the forefront, eventually developing a kind of noisy, metronomic snare sound before the whole thing comes crashing down once again, this time under the weight of a flood of scourging drones. Finally, Swanson's fizzy, electric pulse returns to usher out the side-long piece.
On the flipside we find Rene Hell following up on the cosmic analogue excursions of his Porcelain Opera LP with a side full of hardware-driven synthetic vistas. Right up there with contemporaries like Emeralds and Oneohtrix Point Never, Hell (real name Jeff Witscher) spends his side constructing the kind of intense, pastoral sci-fi sound worlds that could have been plucked from forty years in the past, or for that matter, forty years in the future.
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marble sky - sway - monorail trespassing - cass - 6$
winter seclusion from frozen fields. absolutely flawless and well-paced synth / guitar work -- bursting through thick clouds and shining bright, but always near the darkness. somewhere, something is wrong; somewhere else, Dreams are Coming True. edition of 125, full color covers and glossy labels.
-mt
“The Immeasurable Gift” is a testament to cathartic possibilities and the role of creation/release as a means of understanding. Recorded throughout the past three years in a variety of locations and personal moments; encapsulated by a common, unrelenting concern. Beautifully delicate, elegiac melodies concealed within curtains of dense electronic ambiance reveal themselves like the light at the end of the tunnel; a signifier of the temporary vessel form. Balancing recklessness with care and coming to terms with the inevitable; encountering the man on the shoulder, reminding us that we are all just weary travelers. In an edition of 425 records in full color proprinted cardboard jackets with printed labels and an insert; all design by Jeff Witscher.
-arbor