The first side belongs to Jurko Haltuu, with his “Decomposition (four parts of static improvisation)”. Initial listens left me non-plussed, indeed, the whole tape left me somewhat cold; but closer, headphone listening revealed a really competent piece of work. As the title indicates, the track is comprised of four sections, flitting between drone and hnw. It begins with drifting feedback tones, nicely pitched between abrasive and soothing, before descending into beautifully ornate, shrill noise textures; these are really very nice indeed. Soon after this, a thick, crusty wall speeds in; which is, again, very well executed. The tape plays out to a low, spacey drone which brings “Decomposition…” to a neat end.
 
The second side, “Live @ SSS, Vaxjo”, by Miljoner Doda, takes quite a different approach to Jurko Haltuu. Where Haltuu was very much about concentration, control and distillation, Miljoner Doda has a more messy, layered feel; much more expansive, yet also cluttered. The main tools at use appear to be guitar, “junk” and electronics, with the piece beginning to the echoing clangs of a guitar. From this it builds to a reverberating drone, though a drone made up of many smaller elements - to be contrasted against the more minimal, focussed Haltuu. “Live…” is infinitely more busy and colourful than “Decomposition…”, with melodic loops, feedback and strong crescendos akin to an airplane taking off. The performance carries an air of eeriness and dread at its best moments; though at its worst, it is, alas, incoherent and lost.
 
As I’ve said, this tape seemed to offer little initially, but the use of headphones revealed solid (enough) work from both projects. My ears aligned most definitely with the Jurko Haltuu side, which is a really great piece of “static” exploration; but for those of you bored by stasis, the Miljoner Doda side might just be the tonic. “Live @ SSS, Vaxjo” has some very effective passages, but its brought down for me by some incoherent sections which don’t really convince. Nevertheless, this is a tape worth looking out for.