Sutcliffe Jugend - Slaves [4iB Records - 2016]Slaves is a six CD set that focusing in on the more moody ‘n’ unsettling side of this British two-piece's sound. Bringing together elements of: psycho ambience, brooding-yet-building experimental jamming mixing elements of rock, electronica, avant & unwell soundtrack, electro/ acoustic texturing, as well as more subdued & uneasy noise treatments. Sutcliffe Jugend stared off in the 80’s as a purely a power Electronics venture, but over the years have expanded & grown their sound- to the point where it’s often difficult to put them under one genre label. This box set is the work of four or so years, and the whole thing is meant as the soundtrack for an abstract dance performance. In all the release takes in 56 tracks- and each of the six discs works as their own stand alone statement, but also link into the large releases sonic picture. Each of the discs has subtitles that utilizing the wording of Theatre of….so we get ‘Theatre Of Cruelty’, Theatre Of Passion, etc.
The release comes in a sturdy card back- this features mainly a simple yet effective white text on black background. We get a rather bizarre & disturbing color picture on the front of the set- it’s a top lit photo of a man lying on a bed, with his head completely obscured by what looks like an animal carcass. Each of the six discs come in their own slip sleeves, and these take in pictures of blurred dance figures. You also get an eight-page booklet- featuring the track listings, a short write-up about the themes behind the set, and more blurred figures in movement pictures.
Length wise the 56 tracks fall between three & sixteen minutes a piece. And sonically the pair utilizes the following Paul Taylor: Six & Seven-string electric Guitars, Twelve String Acoustic, Synths, electronics, vocals & zither. Kevin Tomkins: Autoharp. Vocals, electric guitar, piano, organ, synchs tape manipulation, electronics, and various sound sources via contact microphone.
As you expect you get a fair bit of sonic ground covered through-out the six-disc set. Going from unwell & wonky vocalizing drifting with struck melancholic piano & general ambient unsettlement. Though to taut electronica beat structures ebbed by meshes detail building textural maps, that take sawing strings, elector- acoustic sound crafting, and stretched vocal tones. Onto mournful-yet- moody harmonic blends of building guitar scaping, and felt synth simmers. Though slight more seared & caustic moments, that bring together glitch bound beat stretched, higher pitch tonal manipulation & controlled noise-craft.
On the whole, I’d say that Slaves is one of the more wholly satisfying & consistent releases in Sutcliffe Jugend fairly big(and growing) discography. As I pretty much enjoyed ever thing here, and there seems to be real care & focus present throughout. It’s not really a release for a more straight PE fan, but if you enjoy the projects expanding sound craft it really is worth a look.    Roger Batty
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