Tuesday, January 22, 2013

BBBlood / Core of the Coalman / Ap Martlet




BBBlood - N 51°33' 0'' / W 0°7' 0''
Sheepscar Light Industrial. 3”CDR. SLI 010. 50 Copies.


Core Of The Coalman - 12 Lines
Sheepscar Light Industrial. 3”CDR. SLI 011. 50 Copies.


Ap Martlet - Pyrite
Sheepscar Light Industrial. 3”CDR. SLI 012. 50 Copies.



With Sheepscar Light Industrial running Striate Cortex close in the fetish item de jour stakes it comes as no surprise to discover that as physical objects these three little beauties all found homes weeks ago. But fear not sonic adventurer for the world we now live in means you now no longer have to bung your mate a Boots C90 and wait six weeks for him to get back to you. For you dear reader the task is but a simple one; a few clicks to the SLI website and there by the magic of the interweb aural gratification awaits.

OK, streaming quality isn’t the best in the world but high quality downloads are available in a myriad of formats; FLACS, OBS, 320’s, DOGS and CATS you name it. Its the shiny bright connected world we live and isn’t it all just amazing. After extolling the virtues of cassette tape in my last review I now find myself warming to the world of downloads. Well, warming might be pushing it but if I was to give these three releases ecstatic reviews and urge you to seek them out its not like you have to start rooting about on eBay, Discogs or digging about in a drawer for a blank tape is it?

And do you know what. I do feel like giving these three releases ecstatic reviews. Its the warmth I feel coming from SLI. The fact that its such a good label with a solid roster of reliable names on it, a generic packaging style thats easy on the eye and a steady trickle of releases [about three a month, all in one go] thats enough to keep you happy and eager for more.

I’ve seen SLI cheese Daniel Thomas at WC gigs, he’s a steady hand on the tiller, a reassuring presence, the kind of person who gives you a friendly smile as he blackens the back of your hand with a magic marker squiggle after having taken five pounds off you. His label reflects these qualities.

Ap Martlet and Core of the Coalman are both new to me. From these two offerings I deduce that they like to work in the drone arena. Ap Martlet with a spectral piece of drift that resonates with much clarity down my grateful shell-likes. A slight ringing buzz, a collapsing squeeze box pushed together and taken apart by someone with all the strength of a Netto’s value tea bag, a huge steel ball rolling around an empty warehouse. In its last dying five minutes things become quieter as a solitary tone threatens to disappear into the very centre of your soul. At twenty minutes its a perfect ride and I’d be amazed to find anyone for whom this kind of drone doesn’t work. Its clear, harmonious, comparable to Charlemagne Palestine’s work of a similar nature [not his old joanna banging of course], a sheer delight.

Core of the Coalman is the slightly unusual moniker as taken up by the multi talented  American composer, musician, designer and artist Jorge Boehinger. According to various Wikibits his instrument of choice is the viola, though he’s known to dabble in the electro-acoustic field as well as using his voice and ‘various other instruments’. On 12 Lines I’m guessing he’s using both the viola and gadgets of an electric nature. Here again a deep and sonorous 20 minute blow, a vibrating, humming thing that ebbs and flows and hits new key shifts to lift and heighten the experience. Another rewarding twenty minutes worth.

Meanwhile, back at the Barons cage we have Paul Watson keeping the capital alive with his highly rewarding noise constructs. Its a pity there hasn’t been more of BBBlood through these gates for what I hear impresses me - this isn’t all head down, thumbs through belt loops, shoulder swinging, hair swaying drongo noise y’know, there’s a great deal of thought goes into what he does and it shows. During ‘Marseille’ I’m treated to the sound of an oak tree being snapped in half, the splinters ripping across my skull in all its panned glory. I’m sure there’s field recordings in there too, especially on the first track ‘Obscurantism’ which sounds as if it was recorded on the buffet car of the London to Leeds East Coast express. An all out blast appears in due course and when it arrives you know about it but its the way in which Watson arranges his sound that impresses me most. He’s an erudite chap and his compositions show and yes I did mean compositions. The way in which these two tracks are structured, the way in which various elements appear and disappear, the continuous flow of ideas and sounds all point towards a daring and highly enthusiastic mind. I dare say that the Baron has laid his offerings at the TNB alter too for there is the scrape and a rusty bike wheel being slowly spun, its rotations coming to an end with an ear squealing orgasm. Factory hum, that glorious wood tearing .. I believe we may have some kind of mini classic on our hands here. To the downloads.





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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I saw Core of the Coalman playing in Liverpool a few years ago in front of about ten people. He made absolutely extraordinary and magical music, had forgotten him until now.