N0123noise & Tissa Mawaryassari — Life Feels Empty
As far as I can gather this tape was a self-release by N0123noise- with the single-sided labeled tape coming in a monochrome cover- this features a title & mood fitting illustration of a kneeled & forlorn-looking man staring at stars in his cupped hand, inside we get a bleak quote & a hand number of ten. Not sure, as the project N0123noise is no more, if you still get the tape- though you can download from the projects bandcamp.
On the first side, we have N0123noise, it’s entitled “An Empty Feeling In Life”, and it rolls in at dead on the twenty-minute mark. And what we have here is a fairly typical example of quietly captured drone-based wall noise- it features a blend of constantly rolling & muffled bass churn, and a map of subtle juddering & rushing texturing. The whole thing has a rather blunt-yet speedily persistent quilty- with the mood/vibe been very much of set & droning bleak-ness. As this sub-genre of walled noise goes I’d say it's passable, though there’s nothing very distinctive or original here- if your in the mood for something that lightly rages away at you in a stark fashion, this is fine but certainly not of some of the best this sub-genre has to offer.
Flipping over to side two, and we, of course, have the Tissa Mawaryassari track- this is entitled “Reach Out & Touch The Darkness”, it runs slightly longer than the first sides at 22.06. This track is much conventional walled-noise, which is still very much terminal bleak in its outlook. The wall brings together a rattling bead-like bass tone, and this is surrounded by skittering-to-shaking static grain. The low end has a nice head tunneling slightly hazed quality, while the static elements have a rather appealing agitated feel about them that pulls you into the whole thing nicely.
As splits go Life Feels Empty is just ok- the first side is typical of the drone noise wall sound, and the second sides track is certainly a bit more appealing to me with its blend of bass grind & static rattle. I’d say if you’re a fan of bleaker wall matter give this a go, just don’t expect anything mind-blowing or earth moving