Roadside Picnic/Light Collapse — Split
This was released in late 2014, on Heart Shaped Box Prod(which is run by Vitaly Maklakov of Light Collapse). The colour label CDR features collage artwork, and it comes in a clear plastic sleeve- this features a double sided cover that blends together collage artwork with pictures of what looks like bizarre & lo-if installations; taking-in: bird shit covered chair, a single glove, a crate & bottles, sheets of broken formica, fly killer light, and various poles on a wall. I’m not quite sure what it’s from, or what’s it meaning. but it makes for rather original & odd image.
So first up we have three tracks by Roadside Picnic- this Brigham based project is all the work of one Justin Wiggan. The project has been active since 2012, but has never been exclusively a walled noise project, as some of the projects releases feature just experimental sound composition, some feature walled noise, and other releases are a blend of both. I’ve been aware of the projects existence for a few years now, but have only recently checked some out their work.
Opening up the Roadside Picnic tracks we have “Les Enfants Tranquille”- and this is the longest of the projects three tracks at 20.04 mark. This track brings together a blend of spiteful ‘n’ grainy seared wall-noise, with a subtle underbelly of drifting ‘n’ haunting ambience. The ‘wall’ elements are made-up of the following: A slurred & spluttering low-end juddering. And churning ‘n’ pelting mid-to- higher pitched static feasting- these are locked into a fairly fixed yet detailed noise mesh. The ambient elements behind are this are very quiet blend of drifting & wavering vibe tones, and slurred drone elements- it’s possible these could be some form of slowed music, specially created ambience, or a blend of both elements. Towards the last quarter of the track the ambient elements get slightly more active & pronounced- & with this one can make-out a wavering high pitched whishing element, joining the haunted drifting & ebbings tones. It’s a great opening track that perfectly brings together detail rewarding yet coarsely seared wall matter, with a haunting ambient undercurrent.
Next up we have “Man Doubt”, and this comes in at the 13.19 mark. This opens in a more noise bound electronica meets repetitive harsh noise feel- with a dense blend of: honking ‘n’ churning low-end noise tones. Spinning & searing high pitched electro pluses, and a selection of mid ranged pitch shifting noise honks ‘n’ bays. I guess you’d could say there are certainly ‘wall’ elements here, and at a stretch you could say it was progressive wall…but really I'd say it really falls between the cracks in genre definitions. Anyway what every it is, it’s a effective bit of work.
Last up from Roadside Picnic we have the track “Skull Bouquet”- this comes in at 4.43 mark. And this is a weird & unsettling sound art/ seared ambient track that blends together: pared-back & washed-out lo-fi muffled churning, distant high pitch sustains, and layers of buffeting wind tunnel like textures. I’m not quite sure how Mr Wiggan has created this track, but I’m guessing maybe it’s a blend of field recordings & pitch manipulation. All in all it’s an effective, strange, and seared end to the Roadside Picnic side of the split.
So next we move onto the Light Collapse tracks- this project has been active since 2005, and has a truly prolific output. Checking discogs you'll find that there are over fives pages of releases from this project- taking in most formats, on many different underground labels. This projects here just offers up two tracks- we have “Touched Two”, which comes in at spot on the twenty six minute mark. And “In The Depths Of The Grey Sky"- that comes in at just under the eight minute mark.
The first & longer track brings together the following: looped high pitched squiggling & swirling tones, repetitive layers of muffled rattling, and purring organic drones. I guess you’d say this is a blend of progressive walled noise, ANW, and looped/ murky drone matter. It’s certainly a compelling & moody track, and just like the first Roadside Picnic track it nicely blends together searing( though mostly subdued) noise with chilling/ moody underbelly.
The second Light Collapse track I guess is one of the more straight wall-noise moments here, though it still has quite a moody, slightly uneasy, and odd feel about it- so it nicely fits the rest of the split. The ‘wall’ brings together a layer of constantly chopping yet muffled mid ranged tones, drifting & barely heard fog horn like drone ebb, and layers of thinner juddering ‘n’ chopping static. And in the last two minutes the whole thing slowly but surely starts to shift & pare back in it’s layers.
So in conclusion I think this stands as one of the best split noise releases I’ve heard in sometime. I use the general term of 'noise' really as this release certainly does have it main groundings in the wall-noise sound, but it's more progressive wall-noise with ambient & noise elements. Certainly if you enjoy the work of the more progressive work of likes of Clive Henry, or Julien Skrobek, then you’ll enjoy this. But this is certainly not for those who are after just straight walled-noise.