Pascal Nichols
Nihilist Chakai House [LP; Discombobulate]

I’m going to level with you: I just got done writing a lengthy review of Pascal Nichols’ Nihilist Chakai House that I slaved over. And, of course, before I had the chance to save it, I clicked on a random link and erased the whole fucking thing. And it was a good one (trust me, I know). So just understand that whatever I write right now (See? ‘Write’ followed by ‘right’? that sucks) isn’t going to compare to the inspired blast I just got done penning. Now that we have that out of the way, I want to share an all-percussion record with you, care of Nichols, also of Part Wild Horses Mane On Both Sides. You might bristle at the thought of a full-length LP with such a limited scope, but in Nichols’ able hands all is golden. You might even call him the Arrington Dionyso of drum dioramas (again: I told you this review retread was going to suck), or you could say that he made that ‘all-drums’ record Keith Moon should have made. Anyhoo: Side A is a dizzying array of in-your-face configurations of shakers, bells, and cymbals, pretty much along the lines of what you might expect from an experimental percussion record. Keep in mind, however, that not many purely experimental percussion records exist, so whatever you’re hearing likely will be new to you. The knot thickens on Side B, however. Here we get a more brushed-on, rolled-up feel that rises and rumbles like mad before dissipating and serves up what is undoubtedly the most moving section of Nihilist Chakai House, pairing urgent, bulbous bass-drum blasts with off-kilter bells and splashing cymbals. I think I even hear some kind of flute and maybe a sax later on. But that’s neither here/there/everywhere; what I want you to take from this write-up is a) Nichols drums up a lot of excitement and b) the other review I wrote for this record was much, much better (did I mention that?). Nice frost-colored vinyl squeezed into a much-too-tight edition of 250, just like they used to make.

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