RedSK/I Dreamt Of Her Beautiful Tentacle — Untitled Spilt

A very nicely packaged tape here, on Scorze Records. A painted cassette, wrapped in a card cover and tied up with string - simple but beautiful. The front cover is a still from the great 1966 Czech film “Daisies”, whilst the inside image is an enigmatic photo of a girl hiding behind an antlered skull; both are alluring, mysterious pictures, which draw the viewer in. So, in terms of packaging, there’s really nothing bad to be said. The sounds are provided by RedSK on one side, and I Dreamt Of Her Beautiful Tentacles on t’other.

The RedSK side starts with a short track of unaccompanied, fumbling guitar; sounds which explore that popular argument people like to have, over the difference between Derek Bailey and someone who can’t play the guitar… For most of the short piece, the guitar politely meanders; but the end section consists of harsh, stabbing attacks, which collude with the recording device to produce more interesting tones. The second track, “Diaries Of A Drug Mule”, starts without a pause and launches straight into noise; with what sounds like a drum machine and electronics, being obliterated by pedals. Its trashy skree - though that isn’t necessarily a criticism. For most of  its twenty minute duration it’s continual sound mangling, punctuated by feedback; with some details creeping through the saturation: drum thuds, looped keyboard parts (?). It certainly is a saturated recording, which for me always serves to flatten the sounds and strip them of detail and dynamic. There are a couple of passages where the squall lessens, and the noise is reduced to a clipping, farting sound - rather like a very minimal Harsh Noise Wall. I felt these were actually the more effective parts of the track. The third and final track is another change of tone, being a stealthy, reverberating drone of backwards echoes. Despite, or indeed because of, its distinct “greyness” or lack of colour, its the most effective piece offered by RedSK here; it seems to have a solidity that the other two works lack.

Turning over to the I Dreamt Of Her Beautiful Tentacles side, the more barren feel of the last RedSK track is continued. I use “barren” here, to give a sense of the somewhat restricted palette of sounds (not a bad thing, mind) - the three tracks are essentially all fizzing, scouring walls of noise; constantly twisting and turning. The main constituents of the harsh noise of the first piece, “Gunrunning Speedfreak”, are washes of treble and what sounds like a delay pedal being manipulated in and out of self-oscillation; though there are also thicker slabs of lower frequency skree that rise up and dominate the recording. The second track continues is much the same vein, with satisfying bursts of spitting treble and sounds akin to the scratching of records. Whilst both these first two tracks are indeed fervent noise assaults, there is clear attention to timbre and texture; resulting in some particularly choice grainy treble sounds. Proceeding the third track, and indeed the second track, is a very short sample (in this instance of someone vomiting) after which I Dreamt Of Her Beautiful Tentacles again launches into a barrage of noise. This piece, “Vomit”, is more static than the preceding two, and there are sections where it could be HNW; but bursts of feedback and pedal knob-twisting are never far away. Its feels like the most complete track of the trio, with a low-end undercurrent supporting the more trebly elements. It finishes with the sound of someone finishing their vomiting.

Whilst I Dreamt Of Her Beautiful Tentacles win this contest, the third RedSK track, “I Was Raised Drinking Water From The Detroit River”, is possibly my favourite here. I think maybe the more restrained pacing of it appeals to my ear; whereas most of the other pieces on offer here, are rushed without being frenetic, jolting or aggressive.