Placenta Lyposuction/Segment Aura — Split
The release appeared at the start of April this year on UK based Void Singularity Recordings, who is one of the key labels putting out predominantly walled noise- so if you’re a fan of this genre, and want to see it stay flourishing/alive you most certainly should be supporting VSR. The clear shelled & labeled cassette comes in a monochrome cover featuring a photo of a smashed concert pillar showing its steel bones- a nicely effective pic for what we find inside. This release came in an edition of twenty copies, and as of this review there still copies left.
Each side of tape takes in a single side-long track from each artist- and first, up we have the Placenta Lyposuction track “19”42019". It begins with a fairly rapid rising line of chopping & pelting static, with-in less than a minute a rumbling ‘n’ tumbling low-end has appeared- and this sounds an akin the constant spin of a heavy & blunt metal ball. Around this we have a chalky-yet-at-times spluttering jitter, and as the track progresses the elements seem to switch places from front to back of the wall in a most rewarding way. Neither texture is terrible complex or detailed in its presence, but the way they are brought together creates an entrancing & appealing wall- which I could have easily listened to for twice it’s length- I’d say from memory this certainly is one of the more instant & enjoyable ‘walls’ I’ve heard from this project in recent years.
Moving over to side B, and we have the Segment Aura track, this is entitled “Anisotropy”. Here things are somewhat more stripped back & taut- as we get a tense line of rip bound juddering, which is lightly shadowed by distant pulse-like higher tone. As the ‘wall’ progresses another layer rip bound judder seemingly grows from the first, and this has a more of jitter bound bass dip ‘n’ dart about it. This addition really creates a most hypnotic & nervy feel, which at moments almost moves towards almost a groove like feel- yet never fully gets there- remaining jumpy, ripping, and tightly hacking- yet always focused in it’s appealing skipping tightness. In the last quarter of the track, I can make out this neat persistent liquid dipping texture- which adds a sense an alien wonder to the ‘wall’ and is a very clever & well time addition. And just before the end, the whole thing starts to nicely break down & slowly grind to a stop.
Splits, whatever the genre are often difficult propositions- so it’s nice to report that this is most certainly one of the more worth & replayable I’ve come across this year- it’s great to see these projects, each of which has been active for around ten years plus, still putting out worthy & appealing ‘wall-craft’.