YORK FACTORY COMPLAINT "Live Document 09-10" c40 (Robert and Leopold)

Yow that's loud! Let me turn this down...one sec. Shit this is some loud fucking noise music. Okay let me see here...Ahhh I can't deal with this...{takes tape out of deck. three weeks pass} Okay let me try to listen to this again....shit that's loud! Let me turn this down...hold on. Okay, I'm good. This is some pretty brutal stuff.

Though the group has come to include other members from time to time,York Factory Complaint originally formed as a duo of Ryan Martin (not the guy who does Hot Releases) and Michael Berdan, who both are represented on all three cuts of "Live Document." The A side is a complete live set featuring Genesis Breyer P-Orridge of Throbbing Gristle. Now if that's not a ringing endorsement of YFC, then I don't know what is. And ringing it is: terrifying oscillations with mangled yelling underneath. Not friendly, but it sure packs a punch. The B side takes it down a little bit with two (respectively) mellow sets featuring different four piece lineups, one with Cory E. Card and Louis Caldarola and the other with Theresa Smith and Michael Yaniro. Many folks will be drawn to this for the P-Orridge collaboration, but I think they'll be presently surprised by the more dynamic sounds found on the other segments of the tape.

Robert & Leopold releases all sorts of brooding and serious noise tapes. Check out their catalog here.

YORK FACTORY COMPLAINT "Will & Testament" c60 (Robert & Leopold)

Two sides of dense, shrill, mind entombing noise orchestration. This tape, which comes in a nicely designed (simple) j card, presents two sides "will" and "testament" from which they cleverly draw the title.

The first side, "will" is the more 'active' of the sides, with intense mechanical burrowing and swirling metallics forcing their way to the front. Parts were reminiscent of some of my favorite MACRONYMPHA recordings, where it sounds like a street fight with only sheet metal as weapons. Aggressive, dangerous and somewhat restless.

The second side, "testament" had a much slower feel, at least for the first half, suggesting an emptiness or abandon that worked well after the frenetic first side. The space doesn't last for too long, being filled slowly with looping sounds becoming more and more dense and unmovable while not succumbing to the too frequent impulse of creating a blown out wall of noise. They do a good job of letting all the pieces make something larger and grosser than what we've all heard too many times in a blown out over distorted mess.

check their tumblr page for more sound clips and info:
http://yorkfactorycomplaint.tumblr.com/