Ela Vuk — Vanish

A very simply packaged cdr here, from Sarajevo, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its another good example of effective presentation, without massive expense or intricate efforts: a stark, black and white folded insert with just name, title and recording details, and the same picture of a low, wide house on either side. Or is it the same picture? After a week of having the cd sleeve next to me, I suddenly noticed that the house on the rear had a different window layout; but, more importantly, there was also a white, shadowed figure in one of these windows. Its a nice, simple touch.

Ela Vuk (Adela Galešiæ) straddles the line between harsh noise and HNW - or, to be more precise, Ela Vuk is very frenetic, restless HNW. All of the tools and palette of HNW are here, they’re just not deployed in an overly static way. I’ll admit that I prefer the intensity and concentration of a more static wall, but the movement and twist and turns of the eighteen-minute track that constitutes “Vanish” provide an interest of their own. Along with stasis, I also prefer a more detailed, textural approach; which Ela Vuk doesn’t really pursue, but certainly explores a variety of tones and colours. The cdr starts with harsh, swarming noise and a lot of “Vanish” is made up of these trebly gusts; though, later, these hissing layers are joined by roaring waves of lower-mid frequencies. There’s very little proper low-end rumble until the closing stages of the track, where a crunchy grit is achieved - certainly the most enjoyable section for my ears. The recording itself has a scratchy, lo-fi quality, that gives it a nasty edge - not exactly crusty, but certainly dirty.

Another, slighter, preference I have in HNW, is for there to be no elements in the recording beyond the wall itself: no samples or dialogue, for example. Curiously, “Vanish” has several of these “alien” sounds: near the two and a half minute mark, there’s the distinct sound of feedback or a “dead” signal; four minutes later there’s an odd beeping sound, which I still can’t discern, followed by another interruption which then echoes into the void (returning, and self-oscillating, after a further two minutes). Later on, there’s sounds akin to the landing of aeroplanes, unidentifiable and submerged junk-type noises and what sounds like incredibly distorted computer babble: the point is, there’s a lot of “non-wall” elements in the track. Normally, I think I would be distracted or irritated by this “detritus”; but because “Vanish” clearly states from the off that it won’t be a static, textural affair, these sounds are much less intrusive and actually become colourful landmarks along the way.

I’m always glad to see releases by female noise artists, and despite the fact that “Vanish” appears to tick off every element of my “Things I’d Rather Not Hear In HNW” list, this is an enjoyable and different listen.