C. CHAMBERS “Ignoring The Savage Land” (Uuhngreh Schpuggenuh Records) C-40

He’s never early, he’s always late.

C. Chambers, formerly of Kaleidoscope Death, packs the van with all the goodies. The place that was once the ash-tray is now a daily-fortune drawer. A new one appears at dawn. The old one gets fed to the paper tiger. When the vehicle is moving, the interiors of the tires are filled with tiny toy cars in an endless loop racing, huddled together. This detail is on the honor system, as no one is able to see inside to verify.

Black angel did weep, wait, I don’t think John Cale is on this one. Neither is Tony Conrad. That is probably why I feel way relaxed. CC charms the ears with bow on strings in the wee early hours.

Bang a Can, finger callouses are looking mighty authentic. That contact mic smells of marjoram and thistle. Wait, I think I was flossing with those strings. Vocoder Moroder is no where in sight. I like the choice of different color owls string lights arranged around the campsite. The songs ‘til Dawn.


--Adam Padavano

PERISCOPE BREATH “Slow Motion Groan” C46 (Uuhngreh Schpuggenuh Records)

involves: bells, cello, violin, cymbals, glockenspiel, melodica, tambourine, bass drum, acoustic & electric guitars (w/ pedal’d aide of: tremolo, (subtle) distortion, & phaser)

I’m seriously considering teaching the gooey art of graphic design to 4^th &5^th graders during summer school this year, & I feel like this tape would make a great soundtrack to use for whenever I want to talk about the principles of texture & focus, and how they are related to timing & groove.

Side one is an incremental crawl across five tracks, beginning with organic, muddy, ritual drones in the forest, then slowly becoming mechanized, colder, yet freer, and finally ending in star-heated, intergalactic ambient transmissions & echolocations. The five stages, though each differing in How they were made, carry with them the constant theme of juuuuust harmonious, but not quite tonal, which sure as shit does not happen by accident.  

Side two is a re-release of last year’s “Indoor Derivatives” 20 minute, formerly “digital-only” release, and though not quite as (inter)stellarly cohesive in its scope (ha!), it certainly can stand on its own. The deftly balanced ratio of tonal & atonal is obliterated right off the bat, with layers and layers of discordantly bowed strings and cymbals, each screeching for the ear’s attention (I count two to three per channel, but keep getting lost) in slow motion. This grandiose resetting allows for the other three tracks to breathe on their own, as unique, independent beasts…as beastly as organic drone tracks go, anyways.

Great with and without headphones. Strongly recommended if you’re looking for a more minimal, ambient bridge between Pelt and Hear Hums.

https://uuhngrehschpuggenuh.bandcamp.com/album/slow-motion-groan

and/or

https://periscopebreath.bandcamp.com/

-- Jacob An Kittenplan

KALEIDOSCOPE DEATH “RestOfTheDrumTracks/DeadDrum” C30 (Uuhngreh Schpuggenuh)

At the recent Grammy Award ceremony, Kanye West said some remarkably stupid things about Beck winning Album of the Year over Beyoncé. Before you say “Who gives a big fat crap about the Grammys, or what Kanye West said at them?,” hold on, buckaroo! This isn’t about Kanye West in the slightest. This is about Kaleidoscope Death, a fucko-noise-folk butt-punk combo from North Carolina. They’ve released a kind of double-EP on B-more label Uuhngreh Schpuggenuh (and I canNOT believe I had to type that). It’s the one I’m reviewing right now. Check out the name above, and the link below. And then GET OFF MY BACK.

What’s this Grammy nonsense, you ask? Well, Kaleidoscope Death also had something to say following Beck’s Grammy win: “We, the members of Kaleidoscope Death, agree with Kanye West.” (What?! No!) “Yes. We believe that Beck should give his Grammy to Beyoncé. And then we DEMAND that all the awards given at the 1995 Grammys be given to Beck for his work on Stereopathetic Soulmanure. That means you, Tony Bennett, must relinquish your Album of the Year statue for MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett. Bruce Springsteen’s Song of the Year Grammy for “Streets of Philadelphia” should go to “Satan Gave Me a Taco.” Best New Artist, Sheryl Crow? No! Beck. And he should also get all the Grammys for all the other categories, including Children’s (The Lion King), Country Album (Mary Chapin Carpenter’s Stones in the Road), and Historical (The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Songbooks on Verve). Once this 1995 catastrophe is rectified, we could maybe start giving a shit about the more minor ills from this year that Kanye’s talking about.”

Wow. That wasn’t expected in the slightest. But it’s not exactly out of the blue either. Kaleidoscope Death owe a great deal of this tape’s listenability to Stereopathetic Soulmanure, an odd-and-ends compendium of crazy lo-fi experiments that’s also one of my favorite Beck recordings ever. So I’m pretty effing into what Kaleidoscope Death is doing on these EPs, since they embody the spirit of Beck’s earlier and punkier stuff in a very flattering way for both artists. (By the way, the title of side A comes from the fact that the drum tracks recorded for these songs were the last ones recorded that day. The second one has no real drums, but there’s some weird percussion on songs like “Sloppy Peeper.”)

These recordings are certainly more reminiscent of “Tasergun,” “Pink Noise,” and “Thunder Peel” than anything off Morning Phase. Songs like “Cardboard Skyline,” “Mr. Death,” and “Beans & Eyes” rock themselves to seasickness, thrashing and lurching almost without abandon, but with an acute sense that in their DNA lies a primordial tie to No Wave. (Hee hee – DNA.) There’s a silliness to KDeath’s tunes, sure, but they’re executed in the best experimental basement tape way, with lots of fuzz and hiss and grime, lots of dirty energy, and a willingness to work within the confines of their recording situation. Thus they emerge from their studio space (or crawlspace, or whatever) with a totally weirded-out but riotously listenable cassette, barfing forth from your speakers with sassiness and rigor. And the collection of “unique stuffings” appended to the J-card is a treasure trove of bizarro-ness – how did they know I was in the market for odd dress shirts from 1992? Remarkable! Produced in an edition of 25 (I’ve got #11). Kanye needs to respect this artistry – he should give his awards to Kaleidoscope Death.

http://uuhngrehschpuggenuh.bandcamp.com/album/restofthedrumtracks-deaddrum

--Ryan Masteller

HUN BED "s/t" (Uuhngreh Schpuggenuh)

From the deep forests of the Netherlands comes Hun Bed. Not sure if it from the woods but it gives me that evil keebler dwarf joy. I like the name because the Bed is what we call my town and Hun is what I call my gal. Who knows, maybe it is a reference to the jolly Atilla the Hun, but I don't know cuz I don't read much and we never got to WWII in school, nevermind goddamned Atilla the Hun.

Anyway, the first thing I hear when the magnets react on my desktop Japanese relic is the low rumble of wartorn Birthday Party when they landed in London. Bleak and I approve. Lyrics are in Dutch, another anti-demerit because I never understood bands who do not sing in their native tongue. This is the Hun Bed debut cassette and they only made 25- and it's still available from Chuck, even though it's been out for months. Criminal. If it was on vinyl it would of sold out by now because alot of collectors don't even enjoy music. If you buy a buy a coffee from 7-11 today instead of the boutique you can afford one. But I know, homeless people congregate around convenience stores and they are quite bothersome and small cassette labels and musicians are normally well off, so it is forgivable. Note to self-be kind.

Dark tones pervade this music and it comes across as civilized and accomplished. The guitars are that perfect post-1981 European pitch and when you descend into the swirl they cut out and get all jumbled,confused and worried. It picks up into a wave again and washes over you in dissonance and resolution. They sound thirsty. I have visions of a loft in middle YrHope where I am trained in esoteric middle ages violin music. Its weird, by midtape you recognize friendly chords that would fit nicely into college radio, if it still existed, before the sound dissipates into art music for drizzly daze. To use a bad catch-all, dare I say..epic.. Or at the minimum Epoch-this Hun Bed is glorious 21st CenTury darkness -as the absence of light. JUst as we like, as we inch towards fluorescence like lost Moths. The singing sounds lifted from a lost operatic stanza from pre-audiotronix. Makes me long for the day of post-passport Kastle living. This tape would sound perfect in a rickety vessel 1000 east of my pier. Reverse Pilgrimage. One can only hope they tour.

Buy this Tape- if it is available still in a month I am morphing into hoarder mode.

https://uuhngrehschpuggenuh.bandcamp.com/album/hun-bed

-- Michael Montagano