Vertonen
“HACE/26,250’” b/w “11° 22.4’N 142° 35.5’E” [LP; Misanthropic Agenda]

There’s nothing like owning an immensely heavy, sleek slab of wax and knowing that only 200-or-so other people own it. But there’s a rub, and it lies therein: Not enough people are going to get the chance to enjoy this fuckin’ thing, man. Don’t take that statement lightly, either. A metric-ton of disposable dronoise LP clog the indie caves in which we dwell, but “HACE/26,250’” b/w “11° 22.4’N 142° 35.5’E”, by Vertonen, is not one of them. In fact, it’s one of the best examples of the artform I’ve ever heard, consistently enchanting, loud and ominous, flecked with just enough light to keep you peering to the tops of the trees, and eery enough to haunt your soul. Blake Edwards owns a Russian Polivoks synthesizer and nurtures a deep conceptual framework, but as always I just want to hear interesting music, and he never loses sight of the ear even as he appeals to every other faculty. Side B is just short of terrifying and based on High Altitude Cerebral Edema, a condition wherein oxygen doesn’t travel to the brain, and the heaves and throbs of bass bring the track to breathing life before cruelly snuffing it out again amid harrowing harsh-noise soft-squeal and a doom-y drift. Eventually the chaotic audio debris bottlenecks into a surging stream of sorrow, thick with the mists of time.

Cerberus

Cerberus seeks to document the spate of home recorders and backyard labels pressing limited-run LPs, 7-inches, cassettes, and objet d’art with unique packaging and unknown sound. We love everything about the overlooked or unappreciated. If you feel you fit such a category, email us here.

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