Crank S(t)urgeon of magnetic confusion, people of the universe. Mr. Sturgeon is in full dissect and microsecond edit collage on this whopper of an oxide document. I own about 30 or 40 releases by this project (which is still about a third of what’s been released over the years), and this easily ranks in the top five favorite recordings. Pissing in a toilet bowl of NWW Sylvie and Babs styles, early Smegma, John Cage, vocal gab, and other pop music fragments, I find myself lost in the rapid-fire juxtapositions that only CS can carry off with pure modern dada flavor. Certain fragmented speed-change edits brought to mind passages from The White Mice Load Records LP that I obsessed over when it was released in the mid 00’s. This audio salad is topped with sparkling trash textures, howling feedback, and interspersed with contributions from numerous guests on a bygone radio show, A Butte for Huso, that was on WMPG in Portland, Maine from 1997 to 2004. Later edited and reassembled with found sound, shortwave, and vocal bitties in April 1999, this recording was found in 2020 and released earlier this year on Pennsylvania label Detachment Program. Nice liner notes and explanation of the process and contributors(a bunch of unknown names, Sickness was the only name I recognized). People can complain about projects that release copious amounts of material all they want, but Crank Sturgeon ignores all noise trends and laughs at your pretentious noise board comments, offering sonic freedom and (gasp) fun on this short release.
No online presence for this release!!
Here is a photograph of Crank Sturgeon to look at while you think about this cassette.
Brisbane, Australia based Minimal Impact is not a frequent updater of their blogger outpost, but when they do so, the goods are always going to be chunky, droney, and filled with that sweet blistering noise that gets you shrieking, dancing, or maybe discombobulated. So, I suppose that brings us to today’s quick treat, the upcycled C32 Was Ist Los by the lads in Enjoy Our Last Century on Earth. If you’ve been jonesing for the kind of metallic void screaming and cantankerously clanky industrial, then let this duo be your guide. Was Ist Los collects a small fortune of one-offs and split/collab tracks that don’t hold back any punches. It’s a barbarous kind of tape. Yet one that also is impeccably mixed with the kind of precision that doesn’t seek to wear out the hi-fi. It stays in the green without ever floating into the red, which leads to all sorts of malignant brain-fried deviations rendered with utter clarity.
Side A opener “Acknowledgement (And Yet We Continue) ft. K.P.” functions like a phone call coming from hell, as a voice as gargled and ancient as a martian narrates the state of affairs like an omnibus narrator. All the while, both T.E. and Z.M. make quick work of turning scrap metal into electronics and electronics and synths into scraps; clever how they can pull that off. Although the duo are not just in the mood for crushing, omnibus weight; tracks like “Serene Agitation” give the bass a moment to breathe and open things up, while “Libidinal Terrain of the Nation” and “Where is Snow” function like stately power tool drone waltzes. Both (of course) soon descend into a reign of chaos that cuts out just before the state of affairs can completely collapse. Imagine if this was played during the pipe dream minigames of Bioshock and you’ve got a good grip on just the kind of energy this duo is weaving themselves through,
Edition of 40 available from the Minimal Impact Bandcamp page.
