Du Hexen Hase - Du Hexen Hase [Debacle]/Dull Knife - Hands of Conjuration [No Label]

I've been neglecting a stack of discs from local mind Debacle Records. Unsurprisingly, one of my favorites of the Seattle scene, Du Hexen Hase, is among the best of the bunch.
This CD-r reissues a rarely heard tape called Concert for the People of Eugene with a new track stuck in the middle. The first jam "Concert for the People of Eugene Pt. 1" opens with a lingering flute and sparse drum hits. The track lopes along, slowly gathering steam, enlisting guitar drones, a suitcase full of electronics, sloshed vocals and skittering bass drum hits. DHH are masters with doing a lot with a little. There aren't that many elements to the jam but it manages to be dank, meditative, abstract, unsettling and weirdly groovy. It shifts imperceptibly throughout, never giving away its next move but never falling too far from the original tree either. The new 18 minute track separating the "Eugene" jams is an odd one. "Werekrautwolf" isn't tropicalia or anything but it's a weird change of pace. There's a vaguely upbeat rhythm section, squirmy electronics you'd mistake for bird calls, various blurs of static and currents and then the occasional depressed guitar strum trying to bring everyone down. I don't know if this is a live track or not but if it was I bet the crowd was pretty WTF'd and I imagine the band asked themselves the same question. Halfway through though, they really start grinding with the static and the synth blips and pulses and maintain the rhythmic quality in the newly percussion-less environment. The track begins a slow descent into (further) madness with weird cooing, synth sweeps and generally psychotropic drug-addled disarray. The synth squelches, bells toll and the magic man limps down the hallway humming his head off. Phenomenal jam, particularly in the head phones. The final jam "Concert for the People of Eugene Pt. 2" is more concise and less minimal at the get go. Dual guitar lines intertwine constantly with echoing melodies while subtle synth swoops move underneath. The piece moves along in that relatively pretty stasis, forming new melodies and such. Around halfway through the synth gets more unruly with seasick, warbly feedback loops and stuttering circuitry. The track feels like it might break at the seams but Du Hexen manage to keep everything in control for the final, surprisingly mellow comedown. It's a strong work. Anyone into full band drone really oughta check these guys out, they're a must.

Dull Knife's career trajectory as been that of constant paring down. They started out as a four piece drone act, then became a trio and have since settled into the core duo of Adam Svenson (Du Hexen Hase, Little Claw) and Garek Druss (Ear Venom, (A) Story of Rats, Tecumseh). Not only has the lineup been whittled down over the years, Dull Knife is operating at the most minimal frequency they ever have. Last time I saw them play, their gear consisted, between the two of them, of a bass guitar, a microphone and a couple pedals. This CD-r from earlier in the year, Hands of Conjuration, reflects that shift though they don't appear to be using the same set-up.
Opening track "Northern Vortex" features a pretty, delay-addled guitar unfurling arpeggios and it isn't until five minutes in the predatory static that had been creeping up since the beginning makes itself perceptible. By the halfway point the track has found an uneasy balance between dimly lit, droning hiss and moderate but constant kinetic motion. It's certainly one that sneaks up on you; it sounds very different by the end but it's difficult to pinpoint when the whole transition came about. The title track wanders about on what sounds like a collage of footsteps. That weird sort of (a)rhythmic figure eventually leads to a somber, loping bass drum, an occasional crisp cymbal hit and some signal manipulation. Very unusual ground for the men with the dull knife. There's a brief cluster of swelling guitar notes every so often which sometimes intertwines with the feedback warping going on elsewhere. The guitar is probably the only welcoming sound in the whole track. Everything else just sounds... bitter. Mean-spirited but not violent, just there to bring you down. Near the end the guitar gets a little room to expand its shimmering limbs but it's too little too late as the mood doesn't get a whole lot less dire. Out of nowhere there's this strange sort of groove in the final minutes that always shows up unexpected with some sort of drum machine(?) at the helm. Really weird jam. The final track "Goats of Clay" features echoing percussion of some sort and some lonesome organ swells. During the slowburn a few guitar parts come in, one of them seagull-like and the other almost managing a Morricone-esque guitar tone. A full blown guitar melody makes it through in the middle of the piece breaking free from the subtle, aural shackles of the drone genre. Moving from delayed clatter, the duo solidifies into a wall of drones for the track's end.
Each CD-r comes with cool artwork and may be still available through the Debacle and Dull Knife myspaces, respectively.

Dull Knife – Untitled [Epicene Sound Replica]/Du Hexen Hase – Dark Slobby Cave [No Label]

Always happy to rep the sounds of Seattle. Here are a couple tapes by my two favorite local drone purveyors. The connection between the two attacks is a man by the name of Adam (awesome dude, meet him and be friends) who gave me this one-two punch we have here at a show a little while back. Time to jump in.
This untitled tape by Dull Knife is actually a bunch of recordings from a while back from when they were a four piece—they are currently melting minds as a two-piece, saw them a month ago and their set was like entering a temple; full body drone. I’d only heard the Knifers in the duo and trio format so I was psyched to complete my education and hear them as a four piece. One of the first things I’m struck with is how solid they sound. Solid in the sense that the four of them are totally unified. The first piece, whose title I can’t quite read but I’m gonna go with “Cog Bank Account”, features lots of low frequencies wandering purposefully if that makes any sense at all. For a while there’s a short bit of effected guitar or keys that gently nudges things along but for the most part the track is spotted with strategically placed transmissions from space. “Vespers”, my favorite track here, is HEAVY in probably the most mild-mannered way possible. There’s nothing harsh or even that loud here but the piece is robust and dripping with menace. One time I played this too loud and everything on my desk started vibrating. It was an intense experience. There’s a constant cross-pollination of sounds here coming probably from guitars and/or something with keys; the two seemed to be the weapons of choice for these guys. Each of the instruments at work offer very slight hints of melody throughout keeping the track totally engaging during the course of it boring holes through your eardrums and slowing boiling your brain in heavy audio plasma. Monolithic shit.
The other side holds two more tracks. “Morske Orgul…” begins with a lone organ, which gradually meets up with another organ or two. Or maybe it’s all on one organ. The piece is pretty minimal. There’s something like a flute in the background contributing a few muffled shrieks, all the while the track is slowly filled out with more sustained tones and slurred guitar swoops. There’s an odd rhythmic trickle buried way down low that I’m excited I just locked into. Stammering high pitch tones contribute a vague melody just before things switch over to “Squirrel Church” in the final stretch. “Squirrel Church” is a quick, pretty coda to the tape featuring an obscured but present and pleasant melody coming from an organ off in the distance. 30 minutes of blurry meditations does a soul good.
Dark Slobby Cave collects final jams from Du Hexen’s old practice space at the S.S. Marie Antoinette (r.i.p.) Luckily, Du Hexen Hase survived the demise of SSMA and gave the public this little beauty. The sound is much clearer than the late night murk of the Dull Knife tape. “Entrance” is the first track here and it features I think two or three fuzzy guitars all going to town, along with splatters of percussion and effect manipulation. With the two releases I’ve heard from these guys I’m always impressed how they find such a solid melodic center in every track. There aren’t any melodies really being played here far as I can tell but the way the guitars overlap and interact creates an interesting harmonic patchwork. “Entrance” rolls along relatively smoothly for the most part but by its end things get pretty unstable with a guitar barely maintaining a wobbly sustain while another indulges in a metallic freakout until the track’s end. “Obstacle” opens with the ding-dong of various chimes, a sign of the percussion oriented times to come. Distant tinkling bells, bass-guitar-as-a-drum playing, a few sporadic notes of piano and various rustling all make appearances at some point making it a righteously weird track. The flipside holds “Cave Animal Revolt”, my favorite piece of the tape, where Du Hex really gets their dark slobby cave dwellin’ on. A flurry of voices is set against a rhythmic bass loop. Total shamanic spirit ceremony. Lots of ephemeral sounds float through, particularly like this one brief vocal loop that sounds a little like a violin. There’s a real pleasant chorus of voices somewhere near the back but it gets overtaken by the angrier ghost howls. Between guitar and delay pedal feedback and a bunch more voices piled on, the track reaches its urgent breaking point and dies down.
The Dull Knife tape is still in print at Epicene but limited to a scant 30 copies (come on!). It features a drenched and dried J-card in honor of the jams being recording in the rainy season, though I live in the rainy season so it’s possible some the watermarks are from being in my pocket. Dark Slobby Cave is self-released (so check their myspace for one) and limited to 50 copies. I don’t know who did the artwork but it’s bitchin’—and there’s more on the other side of the J-card. It’s printed on cool red-orange cardstock but my scanner rejects that color for some reason so pay no attention to the image.
Also, for anyone reading this who resides around Seattle, Du Hexen Hase along with Wet Hair and Peaking Lights and some others are playing at the Josephine this Friday. Come by, say hi and live the jams. Should be a rad night.

Du Hexen Hase – Under the Clouds of Sleep [No Label]

Hey, a quick (but awesome) one here. This is a 3inch by local (Seattle) act Du Hexen Hase, which I know little about other than its Adam from Dull Knife’s other slammin’ drone trio. Adam gave me this at a totally killer show with masters of the universe Yellow Swans a while back and anyway, I’ve really been slacking on the reviews so I’m just now finally giving this CD-r its due. Also worth noting, the guys list Mitch Hedburg as an influence on their myspace page, so my question to you is: how can they not be great?
“Under the Clouds of Sleep” is a single 17.5 minute track. It sounds like there is maybe two guitars though I suppose it could be one looping over itself. There are plenty of others groans and creaks emanating from who knows what, doubling the track’s mystifying-ness. My favorite thing about the track is its melodic sensibilities. Despite the eerie, almost film-score vibe, there are many moments of beauty in the rotted greyness. The guitarplaying is the element providing the melody and it really anchors the track, so whoever was playing guitar during this session—gold star to you. There are a few layers, particularly a simple repeated arpeggio and a really great almost shimmering staccato type part that pops up occasionally. As the track moves along various bits of electronics noise curls around the frame of the guitar playing. This track is really strange for me to listen to, because it’s an incredibly pleasant listen yet it almost always makes me think of grim, incredibly unpleasant things like a plane crash or a post-apocalyptic world. Under the Clouds of Sleep is like Cormac McCarthy’s The Road but done d.i.y. drone style. Du Hexen Hase conjure up the sonic equivalent of the smoke rising from ashes and burnt rubble. Sorry to get so bleak on you but, hey, I can’t help it. Some ephemeral elements I particularly like towards the end of the track are the echoing clanks of cymbals/sheet metal and a shrill sound device reminiscent of the synth used on Liquid Swords. The piece as a whole is interesting; it’s simultaneously about half repetition and half free form. And even despite the repetition, the track is endlessly replayable. It’s a meditative zoner but not in the typical “drone” sense (there are very few if any sustained tones). Anyway, this track is a killer and though I’ve yet to hear any other pieces of Du Hexen Hase’s discography, I’ve got a feeling they’ll be pretty sweet too. Now I just need to fulfill my duty as a Seattle citizen sees these dudes shred in the live environment.
The CD-r is self-released and adorned with fantastic ostrich art and limited to only 47 copies (a shame). So if there are any copies left, I’m not really sure where to look (maybe their myspace page). But if you come across it don’t hesitate to snag it, and if you don’t, better pray for a re-release. One of my favorite releases of ’08 so far.