The slab of pure white vinyl really does feel like the most appropriate place to store the music of The Spiders. It gives a sort of psychological solidness to what might otherwise seem a slight collection. The album is a gathering together of some of the best pieces from James Heighway’s previously released CD-Rs and cassettes on one side, with a live performance from the 3rd Winter Tragic festival in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney on the reverse.
The live performance sets out with a few seconds of stereo sound – two completely different crescendos building, one in each speaker, sounding like a mix of electric guitar and cymbals. A minute in and this spaciousness disappears, as the shift to mono heralds the lo-fi nature of the piece. There’s a sense of dynamic here, often lacking in ‘noise’ performances and, no matter how loud the sounds get, there’s always room for the playfulness of small clicks and melodic pulses. There’s a wide range of sounds from electronics to birdsong to straight white noise. It’s not always completely engaging and there’s a sense of missing some of the vital elements that would have been present in the actual performance. Nonetheless, at the very least it’s an interesting 15 minutes.
The ‘greatest hits’ side is where the action really takes place. The vignette approach here keeps ideas moving. There’s a greater spaciousness to the recordings which breathes more life into the performances (not to fear, though, there’s no chance of these being accused of anything other than diy lo-fi). While exploring similar sonic terrain to the live side – drones, breaking machines, gauzy noise – there’s greater purpose. Even within the confines of improvisation, there is a great deal to be said for editing, and this side of the disc is strong proof.
Adrian Elmer
