The black slab of vinyl is a fairly good visual likeness of the sounds emanating from the grooves of this 7″. Adam Willetts’ side is distorted drone which actually fluctuates around quite friskily. The bio throws Star Wars analogies around, the Dagobah swamp being particularly apt – to paraphrase Luke Skywalker first encountering the planet, “There’s no signs of civilisation but the lifeform readings are off the scale”. Francis and Watkins’ side has a similar noise-drone surface, but is far more abrasive. Its sandstorm sonority includes the kind of electrical harshness that reminds me a little of Atsuhiro Ito’s infamous flourescent light bulb instruments, though this is more consistent and stable. The sudden cutoff to signal the track’s end insinuates that this blast could continue forever. The subtleties that can exist within the noise movement are quite impressive and these two pieces are a great example, sounding superficially similar but on close inspection, probably coming from different galaxies. Mention also needs to be made of the abstract geometry of the hand screen-printed cover, a perfect home for this music.
Adrian Elmer
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