Norfolk Trotter — Wall Noise For Gravel 7" Single

Here’s the latest release from Norfolk Trotter- the Norwich based wall noise project who themes all its releases on natural/elemental forces. And this is pretty much what it’s title suggests- a recording of gravel captured on a record deck full of the stuff- so it’s a decidedly crude, battering & unstoppable example of the wall noise genre.

The release appeared on Quagga Curious Sounds- which is the label of brit noise maker Michael Ridge, whose behind this project, and the likes of Acerbitas, & Zebra Mu. And as we’ve come to expect from past release on the label it’s a fairly arty presentation- with stickered & recycled TDK Cding II chrome C90, coming packaged in an A5 manila envelope.  On the envelopes outside we get a stuck on a monochrome picture of the gravel & turntable set up, with information rubber-stamped onto the back. Every copy includes a rubber-stamped and color postcard of releases set. The tape was ltd to 11 copies, and as with much of Ridge work, they disappeared fairly fast after it was released back early January of this year.

Featured on the release is a single thirty-minute track- and this appears on the first side of the tape. The ‘wall’ on offer here is extremely low-fi, crude & nasty- and it doesn’t sound as if Ridge has done any processing/ adjustment as you can really hear the textures of the large bits of gravel. The 'wall' is built around a mixture of rushing ‘n’ billowing lows/ mids, which are topped off with cluttering & thinner baying static tones. To me, it sounds akin to been rapidly dragged down a pebbled beach in a sack(possible behind a motorbike, or small horse), as a mass of sharp shells rips ‘n’ tear at both your face & ears. The ‘wall’ remains fairly constant & fixed in its attack, though at times each of the layers shifts slightly- not sure if this is down to the source changing or Ridge’s pedal adjustment- but we do get points of slightly less manic moments, which of course nicely intensifies things when it kicks back in more rapid & nasty again. 

I’d say it’s certainly a damn intense ride of a ‘wall’, which I feel will please fans of very crude & lo-fi wall craft. And while I certainly respected & appreciate what Ridge is doing here, I personally found it a bit too one dimensional & nasty for its own good- so as a result, I can’t say I enjoyed this as much as some of the other releases he’s put out under the Norfolk Trotter banner….but as I said if you enjoy very raw & unforgiving wall matter this might well be worth trying to track down a copy on Discogs or similar.