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

Small Hours - Whisper, I love You [Lurker Bias/ Neon Wall Series - 2016]

Here’s another release in the new batch of the ‘Neon-Wall’ releases from Lurker Bias. And this time around we have two tracks from Small Hours- which is one of the key projects of creative-yet-controversial UK walled noise artists James Killick- who is known for his often lighter/ pop-culture themes. And with this release he’s once again selecting a rather un-dark & surprising theme for the two walls on offer here- American pop/country singer Linda Ronstadt, who was one of the biggest stars of the 1970’s.

The release features two side long tracks, and first of these is “Whisper, I Still Love You”. The track opens with a sample from Ms Ronstadt’s  1978 single “Ooo Baby”, which is a cover of The Miracles original from 1965. Ronstadt’s take on it is a slow & swooning bit of white soul pop, with some nice smoky yet cheesy sax on top.  With-in less than a minute Mr Killick's ‘wall’ has started to rise, as the sample slow dies back. He starts things off with this tight & nervy blend of chopping textures, and fairly soon this is joined by a twisting & hissing element, as he slowly but surely builds up a complex weave of subtly shifting noise textures. Along the track length we get shifts in the taut chopping pattern-nation, shifting snippets of cut-up hiss, looser-more stretched & wind-tunnel like buffing blended with snaking like snapping paths, and beyond. Killick skilful & precisely moves from one textural blend to the next, and with each shift he masterfully changes both the atmospheres & pace of the track- from nervy & taut, onto aquatic yet detailed, though worming & churning. Towards the end of the fourteen mintue ‘wall’ the song sample reappears, as his texturing fades back out.

Moving onto the second side, and we have “Drowning In  A Lake Of Tears”. Once again it opens with a sample from a Ronstadt song, and this time it’s a track called "Don’t Cry Now"- which is from the 1974 album of the same time. What we have here is singer-songwriter piano pop ballad, with a more than a slight pop country tinge to the proceedings.  With in 30 seconds Killick’s textures have appeared- to start with we have just this skittering yet tight buffeting ripping pattern. As the Ronstadt sample totally fades we get a blend of pelting tense static & knocking-to-scapring-to- ripping like pattern-nation. Just like the first sides ‘wall’, as the minutes tick by Killick skilfully shifts pattern blends, from one creative yet Moorish mix after another- we go from blends of different types of buffeting ‘n’ battering textures, though to mixers of coarse tumbling & slightly skittering knockings, onto two speed juddering ‘n’ jittering blends. Once again towards the end of the track the sample comes back in, as Mr Killick’s textures die back.

Whisper, I love You is another great release from Mr Killick, as each wall shows both clever texturally diversity, well conceived composition, & a sly dose of fun.. but ultimately this is great, great wall-craft!.

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

Roger Batty
Latest Reviews

Small Hours - Whisper, I love You
Here’s another release in the new batch of the ‘Neon-Wall’ releases from Lurker Bias. And this time around we have two tracks from Small Hours- which i...
241225   Wrathchild America - Climbin'...
241225   Rushab Nandha - Tear
241225   Hitcher-Hiker - Hitcher-Hiker...
231225   Devil Fetus - Devil Fetus (B...
221225   Zoltán Huszárik-1963- 1979 ...
201225   Re-Animator - Re-Animator( Bl...
191225   Venus DIE-trap - Venus DIE-tr...
191225   Coyotes - Coyotes(VOD/ Blu Ray)
181225   Various Artists - Santa Is Ro...
181225   Death Ride - Death Ride( DVD)
Latest Articles

Creepy Images Books - Killer Art
Of all the cult/exploitation genres, Giallo stands as one of the more visually & art-based- be it with the grand/ dramatic location, choreographed murder...
231225   Creepy Images Books - Killer Art
221225   Best Of 2025 - Music, Sound &...
041225   The Spectral Sounds of The Pr...
281025   Michael Hurst Interview - Unb...
071025   Xiphos - The Rise And Fall Of...
030925   Third Window Films - A Label ...
130825   HNW fest- Barcelona- 12th Apr...
250725   Raté interview - Walled-in F...
180625   Matthew Holmes - Of razor-sha...
280525   The Residents - Visits From T...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2025. Twenty four years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom