Yawning Violence, II |
Government shutdown. Sounds like a brutal anti-Reagan thrash band from the ’80s, right? Unfortunately for us it’s not nearly as fun, and, born as it is from an intransigent distaste for widespread, affordable health care, the 2013 version is not nearly as concerned with “the kids.” It’s infuriating. If you need a reminder of the constructive possibilities of fury, see Derek Jackson, whose new EP with his mutable Hi Tiger project marries the personal/political impossibilities of desire to a skittering, house-y techno. Titled In Our Sick Society, the 15-minute EP is an exciting new direction, not least because of the magnificent potential of progressive dance music. Hitiger.bandcamp.com.
A mysterious project by the name of Yawning Violence has released two under-the-radar records of experimental country-folk this summer. The moniker of one A. Charles, the songwriting project seems to follow some strict rules of spontaneity: no track takes more than three hours to write and record. You’d think the results would be worse. This is lovely, wistful guitar folk with obsessive and mournful undertones, some of it battling layers of noise and found sounds. The 17-track I is probably the starting point here, but August’s II, written and recorded while the artist was reportedly recovering from a bicycle injury that knocked out three teeth and compromised his hands, leans tastefully toward repetitive drone-folk. Good stuff. Visit yawningviolence.bandcamp.com for the downloads.
Just like House Republicans have gummed up the governmental process, the artist(s) known as S/H/A/R/R/P/S really throw a wrench into the typical functions of electronica. A new digital release titled ANTi-RAd SUIT(e) is a collision of vaporwave, looped samples of FM pop, and soft glitchtronics. Impossible to make much sense of, but it’s a splendid listen all the same. The plaintive melodic loops of “c o r r i d o r s” fit jazz vocabulary to a tech-driven syntax, and we dig the quasi-industrial flare of “t h e w o r d i m e n s i o n,” especially when its cold rhythms give way to some deeply satisfying synth chords. Exciting stuff, for fans of Oneohtrix Point Never, Lionel Richie, and V/V/M alike. Visit sharrps.bandcamp.com.
