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

Rien - The Grey Tape [Modern Tapes - 2018]

The Grey Tape appeared in early autumn 2018-it featured two twenty minute examples of nervy & erratically feasting static texturing from this respected Swedish based project. The release appeared in either tobacco tin tined tape release, or a digital download.

The white shelled cassette appears in a silver coloured tobacco tin- this features a stuck on monochrome label with minimal texts on & a white dotted black border on one side. Inside the box we get a fold out double sided inlay, taking in a similar selection of minimal text & border- you also get a download code, and a few black & white vinyl stickers relating to the label. Sadly this release is no longer available in its physical form- so ones only option now is a digital download.


We get two tracks in all here, each runs just shy of the twenty-minute mark, and they are simply titled I & II.  "I "is an extremely nervy & constantly fliting blend of tighter & smaller jitterings, a dry hissing, and a selection of snaps & pops- together these are brought together to create a very jumpy mesh of static texturing. The track feels akin to a walled noise track compressed, stripped back & sped-up to a jumpy & nervous rate. Thorough-out one is kept held by the tracks cleverly detailed, yet coldly sparse attack- at times it almost brought to mind a less rhythmical focused take on the tightly minimal & starkly clinical  electronica as released by the likes on Rasta Noton.


"II" follows the jumpy noise texturing of the first track, but really tightens things up more- with a mixture rapidly flitting static pop & rattle, smaller jittering tones, and subtle traces of muffled hiss. It keeps feeling like the whole things suddenly going to force it’s self apart with it tense jumping momentum, but it never does as it constantly keeps rolling along in its rapid-yet- highly nervy manner.  The tracks just as effective as the first side, yet nicely moves the whole tight-yet- sparse texturing vibe in a slightly different direction.


The Grey Tape is another extremely worthy release from Rien- which once again highlights the projects skill for creating creative static texturing that sits in the more stripped & pared-back side of things.

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

Rien - The Grey Tape
The Grey Tape appeared in early autumn 2018-it featured two twenty minute examples of nervy & erratically feasting static texturing from this respected S...
050326   The Ugly Stepsister(UHD/ Blu ...
050326   István Szabó: Mephisto / Co...
050326   Fade To Black - Fade To Black...
050326   Westen Grey - After Hours I
040326   Westworld - Westworld( UHD/ B...
040326   Carlos Giffoni - Pendulum
030326   Cliff Tremlow - The Pike(book)
020326   HÉR - Monochrome
020326   The Pied Piper + Jiří Barta...
270226   Aberdeen Abattoir - Caro Nihi...
Latest Articles

Cliff Twemlow On Severin - Mancun...
One of last year’s real big surprises in the world of Blu-ray box sets was Bloody Legend: The Complete Twemlow Collection, as it was a wholly entertain...
030326   Cliff Twemlow On Severin - Ma...
260226   The Fall - Repetitious Histor...
290126   Crude ‘n’ Hope-corroding ...
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...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2025. Twenty four years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom