The Bachelorette Party release on FTAM Productions from this past summer (featuring Amanda Schoofs and label head Peter J. Woods) is some of the most interesting and dynamic noise I’ve heard in a while. It consists of two textured and robust live performances from 2017-2018. The A side and first performance, recorded in 2017, is ushered in with sustained atmospheric tones and vocals that are at times soft, at times operatic, and at times bordering on the vampiric. Mirroring these vocal changes, the sonic landscape also morphs gradually but steadily through periods of calmness, brightness, and danger.
The second performance and B side was recorded in 2018 and is markedly more menacing as it unfolds, with a recurring theme of tension in the electronics that is punctuated by witchlike vocal aspirations. The vocalizations are vast and expansive as they dance among the clouds of sonic activity like locust swarms, appearing and disappearing throughout the piece. The entire thing builds and heaves like some sort of electronic coven ritual.
Overall, this creative and intense album is satisfying not only conceptually but also because it features two strong live performances that share a continuity while also boasting their own characters. Props to these two performers for coming together as this new and impressive duo; I hope to hear more from them in the near future.
https://ftamproductions.bandcamp.com/album/submission-of-archival-sonic-documentation-riverwest-wi-2017-2018
--P. Karras
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