What does it mean to make noise music in 2015? In terms of extremity, the genre has reached that pinnacle on various occasions by amplifying one element or another. Both minimalism and maximalism have their limits in the realm of abstract sound and at this point, it seems that many of the most compelling releases that qualify as noise break new territory in the genre by incorporating musical elements that may at first seem far removed from the genre. This can be seen in Prurient’s recent juxtaposition of acoustic instrumentation and lush ambience with harsh electronics on Frozen Niagra Falls,C. Spencer Yeh’s grotesque vocal virtuosity on Solo Voice I-X, and Container’s blown out techno amongst other things. All of these releases create tense confrontational atmospheres but do so through re-contextualizing noise’s elements.
Albuquerque’s Postcommodity is answering this question in a similar yet very different way. On We Lost Half The Forest And The Rest Will Burn This Summer, the collective creates a sprawling whole out of short miniature pieces that cover a wide breadth of sonic territory. Sometimes Postcommodity sound like a contemporary chamber ensemble, other times a wild free jazz group, and sometimes they’re churning out explosive noise. However, these are just a few of the stylistic signifiers that the group brings to mind and they don’t even begin to touch upon many of the subtler and more restrained passages of the album. The group thrives on building tension dynamically through the sequencing of these works and it’s often the striking juxtapositions between quieter acoustic moments and full on digital noise glitch (best seen on the transition from “Cracked Earth and Anthills” and “Leña “) that truly redefines the group’s approach to noise. This sequencing makes the album feel like a giant slowed down cut up piece and the resultant radical natural dynamics of each work perfectly highlights the destructive implication of the album’s title.
We Lost Half The Forest And The Rest Will Burn This Summer is out now via the groups self titled record label.
• Postcommodity http://www.postcommodity.com
More about: Postcommodity
