SAMUEL GOFF & MARIAM REZAEI “The End of the World … Finally” C35 (Cacophonous Revival)

 

I think it’s appropriate that I sit here on New Year’s Eve 2020 (yeah, you’re reading this later) and listen to a tape called The End of the World … Finally, a blast of a new tape from Richmond-based percussionist Samuel Goff and London based turntablist Mariam Rezaei. Maybe it’s a little ironic – I’m sitting here, perched on the promise of hope at the tail end of possibly the worst year I’ve ever encountered, and I’m thinking to myself, “It’s the end of the end of the world … finally!” So my “double negative” negates the crushing doom of plague and conspiracy with a sigh of relief, a breath of fresh air after being choked by the stinking smog of 2020 for what seems like forever.
 
But don’t get me wrong – The End of the World … Finally is also a breath of fresh air, a sigh of relief, in that it also depicts the release from repression, not ending in hope, however, but in oblivion. But still, there’s gotta be hope, right? Think: Goff and Rezaei have put together this utterly hyperkinetic workout of percussion and signal, so the only way to emerge from it is with your heart racing, like you’ve just been incredibly active or the last 35 minutes while you’ve listened to it. And take it from me, exercising after a long break (I’m a terrible holiday exerciser) pumps your body full of long-required chemicals, allowing you to feel revived and revitalized, even if it’s a fairly painful process. Don’t worry – also take it from me, it’ll get better.
 
So The End of the World … Finally is a celebration then, a quick-paced and highly active wing-ding that’ll either end in nothingness or something better – but there’s no in between! That’s good news, I think, and it’s news made better with the prospect wicked drumming and wickeder experimental turntable slashing, or whatever the heck Rezaei is doing. Doesn’t matter, it sounds awesome.
 
https://cacophonousrevivalrecordings.bandcamp.com/
 
--Ryan