Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Sissy Spacek - 15-Tet Oakland [Misanthropic Agenda - 2010]

’15-Tet Oakland’ finds Sissy Spacek moving further away from their noise grind cut-up origins, and it continues further down the noisy, yet highly controlled improv path. This album offers up tow length slices of seared yet highly rewarding improv with each track having an amazing 15 people involved in it’s twisting and edgy sonic construction.

Opening the album we have ‘First set’ which takes in twenty two minutes of raging and reducing caustic improv. The track starts off very subtle, quiet and quite haunting with a slightly serrated string element gentle yet sourly seesawing away. By the two minute mark other sonic elements wake-up and start moving around like: juddering and jerking precision, seared wood wind trails, guitar neck scuttles, and muted 'n' tense horn swoons. As the track move towards it’s fourth minute things getting very  tense and knife edge like, with the drums starting crashing in with violent and jerking body slams, the horn work becomes more aggravated and the whole 15 person ensemble starts kicking into touch- yet it still remains wonderfully controlled and focused never fully dropping into all out noise. There are so many textures and sounds drifting in the jerking and violent mix from wayward electro slices and winces by John Wise & Gerritt Wittmer, to throbbing counter bass punching throbs, loads of percussive detail and scuttle, guitar rabid neck runs,  koto tinkle and twist, and woodwind honks and bays. The track wonderfully switchers between thick and detailed noisy attacks, down to more looser, open and at times quite atmospheric simmers.

After a brief, glamoring and grinding noise ‘n’ percussion  44 second encore we drop into ‘Second set’ which starts out with distant, gentle, melancholic and harmonic Morton Feldman like woodwind trails, which is surrounded by all manner of settle and twitch , and  the odd sudden tight percussive whack. By the fourth minute the mournful woodwind has departed and replace by pick-up jerks and violent scuttles, horn honks, jaded guitar twitches and sudden ‘n’ receding percussive attacks. This track is a little looser and less tense in it’s feel and attack than the first track. Sure later on things get quite thick, detailed and noisy along the way, but it feels a little more carefree and fun in it’s attack somehow with some almost cartoon like noises appearing here and there in the mix. But just like the first track it’s still highly effective, focused and rewarding through-out it’s twenty one minute runtime.

All told ’15-Tet Oakland’  offers up two highly creative, focused and  wonderfully performed slices of noise sewn improv. The only downside to the whole thing is it all seems over to quickly, I really hope  Sissy Spacek see fit to put out another boxset like the great California Ax from 08.

Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5

Roger Batty
Latest Reviews

Sissy Spacek - 15-Tet Oakland
’15-Tet Oakland’ finds Sissy Spacek moving further away from their noise grind cut-up origins, and it continues further down the noisy, yet highly controlled...
290324   Piranha - Piranha(DVD)
280324   Typhoon Club - Typhoon Club(B...
270324   Jerzy Skolimowski Collection ...
260324   Latex Choker - Sealed
260324   Occlusion - 59: No Input Wall
260324   Nihil Impvlse - Anabasis
260324   Marta Forsberg - Sjunger För...
260324   The New Boy - The New Boy( Th...
250324   The Stargazer’s Assistant - ...
250324   Liza Lim - Annunciation Trip...
Latest Articles

The Music of Clay Ruby & Burial H...
Over the last couple of decades Wisconsin native, Clay Ruby has been creating some of the world’s finest dark electronic music under the Burial Hex mon...
280324   The Music of Clay Ruby & Buri...
290224   Sutcliffe No More - Normal Ev...
100124   Occlusion - The Operation Is...
181223   Best Of 2023 - Music, Sound &...
051223   Powerhouse Films - Of Magic, ...
181023   IO - Of Sound, Of Art, Of Exp...
210923   Lucky Cerruti - Of Not so Fri...
290823   The Residents - The Trouble W...
110723   Yotzeret Sheydim Interview - ...
250523   TenHornedBeast - Into The Dee...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2023. Twenty two years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom