The reason I hate writing about so-called “abstract” music also happens to be one of the reasons I love listening to it. It can’t be hastily described in terms of a blanket buzzy genre or reduced to a formulaic hypothetical (“sounds like if X artist and Y artist combined”) — that is, if it’s well made, which rlhaaa to very much happens to be. Described by the label as a “deconstruction of field recordings,” understood in a Derridean sense to mean an album created outside of the false dichotomy between the non-music of the “field” (“real” world) and the “music” of the deliberately produced sound. A tall order for sure, but explored here in a truly absorbing (and fun!) way regardless. Though all the sounds are electronic, the duo uses such a broad palette that even the more conventional static-flutters and bent circuits sound completely vivacious and fresh, avoiding any sort of predictable narrative for itself so that each subsequent sound is interesting in its own way. To me, the strength of this cassette lies in its cultivation of potential, that the sounds on the tape are the spillover from the potential sounds surrounding it, which continue to the horizon in all directions. Can I break my own rule and describe the packaging as Shawn Reed meets Sylvie P with a smidge of Tyfus? Either way it’s a huge compliment, with the cover here depicting either a resurrection, the apocalypse, or just a really good party, which may be the best way to describe the music as well.
More about: Noish & Xedh
