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 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

Where Is This - Mercury Kisses [Sweet Solitude - 2012]

“Mercury Kisses” is the 5th release in Sweet Solitude’s 'Shades of Grey' series- each title in this series finds a HNW artist theme their release around a famous murder case, murders or criminal cases/ police work. This release from Irelands Where Is This is themed around the persecution of Gay’s by the 'Lily Law' in 1930's America.

Lily Law was the name used for the police by gay men in 1930’s America. During this period, San Francisco’s Market Street Theatre was a big hang-out for gay cruisers, so the police decided to place comely police cadets in plain cloths through-out the theatre.  The cadets had mercurochrome paint  on their penis, so when the cruisers performed fallatio on them the  police where awaiting in the lobby to pick-out the culprit’s who had red lips.


This CDR offers up four fairy short shots of layer active walled noise, and these fall in-between just under the five & a half minute mark, to just shy of the twelve minute mark. First up we have “In The Theatre” which sears together a roaming, buzzing & juddering noise tone wall with often a mass of jittered ‘n’ juddered unrecognisable voice samples trails on top. The  track is mostly very dense ‘n’ muffled with repetitive noise textures, yet there’s this  sort of violent textural bounce & throb to the proceedings; & the longer the tracks goes on the more violently on ‘n’ off it seemingly becomes.  All told it an effective & original take of ‘wall-making’, and it sets the sonic tone nicely for the rest of the release.

Track two is entitled “In The Lobby”, and this track is built around  the urgent  interlocking between billowing & galloping noise drones- first you have a cluttering yet thin drone element, and this is fed along side a rapid billowing sustain.  The ‘wall’ is given this rather effective muffled tunnel like feel which makes the whole thing very oppressive & brutal, yet aged & sleazy.

Onto track three, and we have “In The Backseat With Lily Law”, and this is the longest of the four tracks at the 11.59 mark. This track burst in with a energetic & throbbing ‘wall’ that mixers together purring ‘n’ slowly darting industrial tone drone, swirling ‘n’ circling noise jitter, and the odd fix of overloaded dialogue sample & sear. There’s a very slurred ‘n’ sleazed sort of vibe to the track and it’s the highlight here for me.

Lastly we have “Advised Not To Take The Stand”, which is another dense yet layer active slice HNW. It’s built about a  massive descending wave of churning ‘n’ billowing noise tone, which ever so often  is shifted by violent ribbons of muffled  dialogue samples, or  swirling/ spiralling noise layer shifts.

“Mercury Kisses” offers up an rather effective selection layer active & intense walled noise, and  the rather bizarre & perverse historical police theme adds an interesting sleazed edge to the proceedings.

Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5

Roger Batty
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