Seth Cooke/Dominic Lash - PACT (1000füssler)

Francisco Meirino - The Aesthetics of Everything For Nothing (1000füssler)

Two new 3-inch discs.

Cooke and Lash (there's a duo name for you) serve up two quite tasty tracks, more (slightly) steady-state than much of what I've heard from Cooke prior to this, the album beginning with an intense electronic buzz/hum with sitar overtones. Dark, deep strokes obtrude from Lash's arco, very strong and exciting. The piece fragments into juicy, globular strands of plucks, scrapes and rattles, all quite resonant and close-mic'd; one's ears are right in the middle of the conflagration. Surging, rough and uncompromising--good stuff. The second cut starts in a semi-similar area as did the first, a drone-y space with a seesaw pattern from the bass, Cooke spreading rich, granular noise over and under. Rather than fracturing, this piece kind of melts into a thick swirl of colors, mostly more muted electronics accented by pure bowed bass lines and portentous plucks, concluding with a feedback squall. Excellent work.

The sound sources for Meirino's intriguingly titled piece are toys, recorded very closely (inside, even, one gets the feeling) and edited into an 18-minute composition. The sound-world is vast and active, replete with squeaks, deep thrums, crackles and much more. I often have a sense of wandering through a dense jungle. A loud but brief cascade of bell tones leads to a lovely clearing where, past nearby rustles, one hears more distant sets of bells, of metal balls scurrying over wooden surfaces--a wonderful few minutes before a rather harrowing storm arrives, with a harsh, shimmering wave oscillating from speaker to speaker over what almost sounds like an old wooden pier straining and groaning against the surf. This subsides, a warning-light buzz and a few raindrops lingering, before another of those bell ripples closes things out. Impressive, immersive and very enjoyable.

Both of these works well worth a listen.

1000füssler