Norfolk Trotter — Paramoudra
Behind Norfolk Trotter is Norwich based multimedia artists Michael Ridge, who's been active on & off in the wall-noise scene since around 2010. His first project wall project was Acerbitas- this run between 2010- 2014, putting out around 14 releases. He started the Norfolk Trotter project in 2016, and so far put out eight releases under the name- so he’s not the most prolific, in the often highly prolific HNW/ static noise scene- but whenever he does put something out, it’s worth checking out as he always gives a lot of thought to both the creation & the themes of his walls.
As mentioned early on, it's a rather arty CDR release- the black paint smudged CDR comes in a clear CD case, and this features on it ’s front outside a veiny splodge of black & white paint. And on it’s back a numbered brown craft paper sticker- this features two monochrome pictures of rocks or flints, basic track details, web address & label logo, and pen numbering- mines number 8 of 37. Also on the back, we get an L shaped mass of black paint, and to top the package off there are three small pebbles actually inside the case. It’s always nice to see labels put a bit of arty thought in releases, and this one looks most effective. This is actually the first release from Perpetual Abjection- a Bangkok based label who are going to be focusing in on releasing ltd handmade HNW release- so I very much look forward to seeing more stuff from them.
Anyway, let's move onto the noise within- the single track here comes in at the 46.17 mark. And it starts off been built around a blend of two or three layers of roughshod juddering- there‘s a tunneling & muffled low-end, a crisper constant descending static tone, and a semi- rattling mesh of spluttering thinner static haze- these blends together to create a fairly industrial, yet persistently earthy wall- which brought to my mind a group of industrial revolution era stream powered vehicles making their way across rough & muddy British countryside. As the tracks progresses the layers start to gentle shift & alter, so at first I make out a keener ball bearing buzzing around the low-end, then later a more rapid rattle feel making its way through the whole wall- as if the vehicles are starting to subtle break internally, yet still manage to go on. At around the mid-way point the tunnelling low-end becomes blunter & droning, and this is joined by initially by a fairly pronounced mechanical chopping sub-tone, but this soon seems to start fading & bouncing around like a broken spring inside the 'wall', creating this most effective feeling of movement. Also we get this looped almost rhythmic rapid darting pulse buried deep within the walls mass, as we move on from this point the judders seem to become less defined & split slightly in their loops, which once again creates the feeling of the machines rapidly breaking internal- but through it all we still get the persistent pulse, which at times almost takes on a primitive groove feel.
It’s always nice to hear new stuff from Mr. Ridge, as you're always guaranteed thoughtful & creatively produced work- and Paramoudra is no exception to this. If you enjoy subtle altering industrial-tinged wall matter, you really need to pick up a copy of this release. And as I mentioned this comes in a fairly scene generous edition of thirty-seven copies- so you should still now be able to snag a copy.