
Koobaatoo Asparagus - Ronnie [No Skinny Jeans - 2023]Ronnie severs up two brain-battering examples of walled noise from the long-running/ highly prolific California project Koobaatoo Asparagus. Each track comes in at dead on the half-an-hour mark, and each is as densely sonically brutalizing as the other. The theme of the release is 1998 The Players Club- which was directed by Ice Cube, and followed a group of African American strippers- the film is seen as a more rough, ready, and gritty take on Showgirls. In particular, it takes its name from one of the film's characters Ronnie (Chrystale Wilson)- who is one of the more manipulatively/ bitchy characters in the film. With the front cover of the digital release features a selection of stills from the film. Drop here to play it
Both tracks are self-titled “Ronnie”, and both roll on at the half-an-hour mark. The first track is a mix of constantly rolling & slightly muffled around the edges bass judder- this is lightly touched by a thinner rattling tone. With the whole thing rather giving me vibes of being sent through a large garbage grinder. The noise textures are simple & ragged in their attack, and while it’s far from the most original/distinctive mix- it is most effectively brutalises.
The second track finds a constantly tumbling bass boil- this is surrounded by skittering ‘n’ feasting small-grained detail. The blend of the textures create this sonic illusion- where seemingly one or other of the textures’ feel like there changing speed. This ‘wall' felt akin to being in a steady rolling down a tufty grass and stone-lined hill. Again the textures used are fairly bog standard- though they are mixed in a rewarding manner- and at the centre of the whole thing there really is a rewarding feeling of numbing barren-ness- which nicely drills into one's head
Once again with Ronnie, Koobaatoo Asparagus presents us with another consistent trip into walled noise brutality. And really this project has taken the mantle off Vomir for being the most prolific wall project around.      Roger Batty
|