A humble brown cardboard slipcase with one side painted black; a small sticker with artist and title on the other; a printed CD-R containing a single track. Prognosis Negative arrives without fanfare but manages to burrow its way into your subconscious. While there are no specific tracks, the piece is broken into definite suites, opening with a sublime 14 minute overture of massed xylophone groove, twinkling guitar and light bass, the odd hi-hat adding to the rhythm. It darkens ever so slightly in its closing stages before fading out. What follows is a complete about turn – five or so minutes of increasingly darkening overdriven drone. Further segments feature feathered guitar textures, hi-pitched synth pulsing, skittering percussion and foreboding wash. It’s an eclectic mix which somehow hangs together.
One main feature, particularly noticeable on headphones, is the monophonic mix. Whether this was a deliberate ploy, I have no idea. The effect it has though, is to congeal all the disparate sounds into a throbbing stew. What this loses in terms of immersiveness and psycho-acoustic space is definitely made up for in unifying the juxtaposed elements. With nods to the noise underground, acoustic improv and abstract electronics, Splendid Friends never dissolve into any of these genres but jump about joining the dots between them.
Prognosis Negative is a short run release (100 copies) on a relatively new Perth based label – Farmer Frontier. I’d say it’s well worth tracking down a copy.
Adrian Elmer
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