Words by Sean Victory
Sean Victory is a lifelong artist, tinkerer, and musician. His current projects are Nightmare Frontier and World Hum, having also contributed to the groups Famished Ghosts, Future Toys, and Owl & Swan.
Dermatology by Rrose and Polygonia (Eaux)
These two artists were already traveling along a similar orbit before happening along each other. Polygonia actually started becoming interested in creating techno after hearing Rrose perform at a festival. Rrose on the other hand, started noticing Polygonia’s tracks appearing in their sets more frequently than any other artist. When Rrose reached out to Polygonia about collaborating, this serendipitous connection gave birth to this hypnotically engaging set of dancefloor tracks.
The mutual influence of one artist on the other, with aesthetic concerns in perfect alignment, makes this album quite strange in that if someone told me it was Rrose or Polygonia I would have no trouble believing it. The fact that they are able to so perfectly meld their sounds together is a testament as much to their musicianship as it is to their philosophical congruence when it comes to sound design. The constituent parts are strong as ever: Earth-moving kickdrum keeping four on the floor, textures shimmering and crawling across the stereo field, polyrhythmic elements push and pull the listener’s attention in various directions, all while keeping the mix claustrophobically close to your ears. Any use of delay or reverb on these tracks function more as a rhythmic element than a spatial one. This is to say that the sounds routed to these effects mirror, divide, and multiply the temporal aspects without creating a reprieve from the music’s cacoon-like presence.
Maybe it is too lofty a wish that artists will find those they’ve influenced, were influenced by, seeking them out for mutual excursions. The hope that such meetings would garner fruit that is at the very least equal to the sum of its parts might be the loftier of the wishes. For their part, Rrose and Polygonia have found a cohesive sound in one another, regardless of how they’ve arrived at it, the final product is as solid as anything they’ve crafted individually.
Absolute Elsewhere by Blood Incantation (Dark Descent)
Blood Incantation don’t seem to feel limited by the trappings of the metal genre. If anything, genre serves as a challenge for them. They were fully willing to make an ambient record on 2022’s Timewave Zero. And while they’ve always had a toe dipped into the world of synthesizers, kosmiche musik and krautrock, nothing says commitment to such departures like collaborating with Tangerine Dream! The album title itself is a nod toward their prog rock influences (Absolute Elsewhere was Bill Bruford of King Crimson’s side project). Even with this information in hand, I was not prepared for how beautifully the band would integrate this into their sound.
Across two tracks—split into three parts each for streaming purposes (smart!), clocking in at forty three minutes, the band stretches out far more than they ever have in the past. There are moments of tumult and cosmic horror just as much as there are weightless free floating ambient interludes. While these polar opposites seem at odds with each other, the band finds a way to integrate them into their vision of intergalactic McKenna-esque spirituality and the Lovecraftian horror of world’s beyond.
To this end, it is worth noting the lyrical content of the record. Paul Riedl not only reads like a seasoned psychonaut, but a student of philosophy. In the hands of any other metal band the lyric, “All life is suffering,” would be no more than a triteness to gurgle over double bass and squealing guitars. Despite the delivery, the lyrics point toward a Buddhist ideology, and then beyond: “All life is temporary. What lasts is consciousness.” Across the album, Riedl paints a story of death, the soul’s cosmic transmigration, and rebirth. For music this extreme it’s surprising to discover there is an underlying message of finding meaning in the confusion of reality by seeking connection, charity, and love.
Much like Terrence McKenna’s own philosophy, stating that the universe seeks to create novelty, and that humanity itself is the embodiment of this tendency, Blood Incantation’s course seems to be evidence of the truth that underpins this idea. Every record they make is a further departure from the known. In the end, maybe it will be Blood Incantation who open the Stargate and bid welcome to the transcendental object at the end of time.
September 23rd by William Basinski (Temporary Residence Ltd.)
I was fortunate enough to see this album performed live at Chicago’s Garfield Park Conservatory where Basinski was booked as part of the yearly celebration of Mother Earth’s Plantasia. The first thing that struck me was just how much confidence and clout an artist must have to perform tape loops in a live setting. It requires a technical intelligence as well as patience from both artist and audience. It’s not something any artist could do, but Basinski has long proven to be a master of this art form. He has been willing to ask his audience to be as patient as listeners as he must be as a creator.
It’s not that all of Basinski’s albums sound the same, but the compositional forms are always familiar and recognizably his own. As a preamble to his set, he encouraged the audience to sit down – on concrete, booo! – because we were in for a “blissed out melancholic time”. This quip universally tracks across his musical output. Through repetition, texture, and subtle shifts he creates environments that feel like a dark and musty corner of our interior landscape. For this outing we are given a scant handful of notes on a piano, some reverberant drones, and of course the delicious taste of tape. This collection of instrumentation makes September 23rd one of his sparser affairs, and as these elements recede and recur for nearly 40 minutes, a spell is cast. It pulls a veil of rain clouds over the sun, on a dolly we ride through a trembling David Lynch corridor, and candles serially light and extinguish themselves where they sit upon a haunted baby grand.
Again, this music asks us to sit with it like a family member in hospice. Through continued exposure to the content a small thread begins to tighten in our minds, pulling us closer to the mysterious heart of this music. The music insists that the listener remain quiet and engaged. Popping into my mind as I write this is a quote from Jame Joyce’s Finnegans Wake that communicates this very artistic demand: “Now, patience; and remember patience is the great thing, and above all things else we must avoid anything like being or becoming out of patience.”
Honorable Mentions
Selected Ambient Works Volume II (Expanded Edition) by Aphex Twin (Warp Records)
This is a remaster of a chillout room classic nearly thirty years after its original pressing. This expanded edition gives us three additional tracks, as well as the renaming of #13 as Blue Calx. I always had an issue calling any Aphex Twin release Ambient. There’s usually some sort of dark apparition floating just out of frame in his compositions, something sinister in the aether, and there’s more percussion than most people are used to in ambient music. This obviously doesn’t disqualify it from the ambient category, but a young lad in love with Brian Eno might find this a little more difficult, for example. Comparing the audio from the original to the current edition I don’t really hear any noticeable differences, and that’s fine. The songs are fantastic on their own. This is one of Richard James’s most solid and sought after works, and we’re all just happy it is back in print again.
Synthesizer by A Place to Bury Strangers (Ded Strange)
I really think A Place to Bury Strangers have found new life in the last few years. I hold 2021’s Hologram as one of their best releases, and I think Synthesizer continues to breathe something new into the band as well. Something extra cool about this release is that Oliver Ackerman has put some of his electronic instrument know-how (Death by Audio) into creating a special DIY Synthesizer edition of the album. Naturally, this noisy little monster is all over these tracks. If I had a few extra bucks I would pick up this version of the album just to do the build, even if the album sucked, but it definitely doesn’t!
Crime in Australia by Party Dozen (Temporary Residence Ltd.)
The Australian Sax and Drum duo are back with more swagger than ever. Most of these songs sound like they could be background tracks for a 70’s spy show. There’s a whole lot of attitude in these tracks. Kirsty Tickle still plays with the unrestrained exuberance of Albert Ayler, and Jonathan Boulet absolutely smashes his kit. It’s amazing he gets more than one use out of it. There are moments of noise and cacophony here, I forget I’m not listening to Lightning Bolt. Lyrics screamed through a harmonica mic, and so much fuzz and thump that one can picture the youths doing the slam dancing they’re so fond of. This one hits harder and lands a bit more solidly than 2022’s The Real Work. Their 2020 album Pray for Party Dozen still holds a special place in my heart, but this one is now my close second.
Mentions (not without honor just without text)
Big Majestic by Ellen Reid (New Amsterdam Records)
Something Ephemeral by Alaskan Tapes (Nettwerk)
Oneironautics by Hawksmoor (Soul Jazz Records)