
Hoogle - The Wiseman And The Hat [Altar Of Waste - 2016]Since 2011 this US wall noise project has slowly but surely released a series of releases themed around the 80’s children fantasy film The Labyrinth. The project takes it name from the grumpy and obstinate dwarf that leads around human teen Sarah around the magical other-world of the labyrinth. The Wiseman And The Hat is the tenth, and most recent release from the project- it comes in the form of a c62 tape on Minneapolis based Altar Of Waste. This release appeared in late 2016, in an edition of twenty copies- and as of this review, the label still has copies left. The green shelled tape comes in a doubled sided color sleeve- which takes in stills from the film, on the front cover we a get a picture of The Wiseman, and his impressive tall hat. And on the inside a picture of a green Topiary maze.
Each side of tape takes in two tracks. And first up on side A we have “The Wiseman Is Intrigued”- this opens with a brief film sample of the Wiseman saying ‘oh a young girl’- then we're into walled noise. The rapidly paced track is built around a looped blend of descending judder, snapping mid-range clutter, and distant industrial like locked churning- as the whole thing progresses it seems to be slowly fading in it’s intensity & structure- but this could just be a trick of the wall. It’s a fairly simple & un-dynamic bit of wall craft with a fairly narrow & set tonal range, but I did find my self-getting pulled into the whole thing, and quite enjoyed the almost cascading corridor of mirrors feel that's created here. This track comes in at around the sixteen-minute mark.
Next up on side A we have “Ancient Minds Process Slowly”-once again this open with a film sample, this is time it’s a short dialogue sample between the Wiseman, his helper, and Sarah asking about getting to the castle. Fairly soon we are into the ‘wall’, and to start with it’s just a focused line of blunt ‘n’ rapid juddering, which has quite a dense stream like quality. Fairly soon we get the addition thinner jittering, buffeting & billowing textures added to the mass. Once again it’s a fairly tonally narrow & basic wall, but I do enjoy the way we get some subtly effective shifts in the sub-tones, which keep you focused yet never go too far from the original walls setting.
Over onto side B, and we have ”Wisdom Has Been Dispensed”- and once more we get another sample with the Wiseman giving Sarah some wisdom, then within less than a minute, we are into the wall. This time we get a blend of the set & dense billowing, which is fairly soon stacked-on top by several more layers of rushing searing & ripping buffeting. This track feels slightly less set than the other tracks, as the additional textures do have some stop, start & shift in their make-up, but it still retains a fairly fixed ‘wall’ setting. I rather like the denser & searing rush of this track, and of the four tracks on here, I’d say it’s my favorite it ’s searing-yet- simplistic feel.
Last up we have “Further Explanation, Followed By A Nap”. And as we've come to expected we get another sample, with more wisdom from the Wiseman & his chirpy side kick. This ‘wall’ is a blend of slightly distanced churn ‘n’ roar, which is topped with a cluttering mesh of juddering & jittering static. The use of the panned back patterns and the more upfront patterns is effective and nicely keeps you fixed in on the noise. Through I did start to find my attention waning in the last five or so minutes of the track. The tracks ends fitting with a sample of Wiseman help say ‘I think that’s your lot, leave a contribution in the box’
If you’ve heard any of the other Hoogle releases, The Wiseman And The Hat really follows on the projects past sound with a blend of basic- though mostly engaging wall matter. So nothing mould breaking, or world-changing- but all in all another consistent enough release from the project.      Roger Batty
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