Snowstorm – Snowstorm [Malleable]

I'm wrapping up my stay in London preparing for my journey elsewhere. I'm not sure what the internet situation is going to be like over the next month so I can't say how often this site will be updated. I'm not planning on going on hiatus or nothing but just letting you know posting will be scattered. I've got some reviews written in a notebook that I need to get around to transcribing into a digital format but I wanted to get a couple more up before I head out tomorrow. Pardon the interruption, the review starts now.
I got a couple of things from Malleable records in Philadelphia who had a hand in two LPs I dug last year by Mincemeat or Tenspeed and Embarker. Keeping consistent with the other stuff I heard from the label, this full length 45rpm 7inch (12 songs) is pretty nuts. Snowstorm, also hailing from Philly, is a bass/drums crew which, now that I’m thinking about it, is one of the most consistent instrument lineups. Lightning Bolt, The Pope, Temperatures, Godheadsilo etc. etc. they are all varying degrees of rad. Only lame one I can think of is that Death From Above 1979 band and they have a dumbass name so it's to be expected. Anyway, that was a round about way of saying add Snowstorm to the list.
So there’s twelve tracks on this thing and they don’t have names or any of that, so in order to keep me from going nuts over reviewing a 7 minute record I’m just gonna treat it as sides. This stuff is pretty thrashin’ but always manages to find a groove even if it only riffs on it for 10-15 seconds. The bass shifts violently between ice pick feedback (trademark of the Malleable crowd) and surprisingly melodic, speed-sludge passages. There are remnants of the bands I mentioned earlier, but Snowstorm is on a frantic kick all their own.
The second side begins with pummeling in mind. With dynamics akin to harsh noise before lauching briefly into a rollicking stoner riff, then breaking down, speeding up and doing all sorts of sonic gymnastics. Awesome and hyperactively epic. The side continues with the same jacked up intensity, mauling your face but allowing for occasional gasps for air. They totally outdo themselves on this side, I’m constantly being crushed in new ways. Rules.
The record blows right past me, where each track is good but they never pass the threshold length where they get stuck in your mind. They drop catchy parts but they don’t repeat ‘em. It makes the record more of an experience than a set of songs.
Pretty killer record overall if you're down with this sort of thing (who isn’t??) and looks-wise this thing is a beauty. Off-white vinyl and killer vellum artwork/sleeve. Still in print!

Embarker – Embarker [Malleable/Send Help]

Embarker is the pun-y solo guise of Michael Barker (get it? M. Barker?) who plays in other projects such as Sharks With Wings. This is his first LP as far as I can tell. I’m pretty far removed from the Philly noise scene so I’d never heard any of Barker’s work before. Last year’s Mincemeat or Tenspeed LP (also released by Malleable) was the only dose of Philly noise I’ve had and it was rad so I was obviously psyched to hear more.
Embarker treads in much darker waters than Mincemeat. This stuff is harsh and concentrated. Barker uses a variety of modified electronics along with a lapsteel-like instrument to whip up these shitstorms and I’m surprised he doesn’t trip himself up with as fast as these tracks move. The first side opens with “Fake Forrest/Former Friends”, about ten seconds of cut up vocal(?) sounds and then things get heavy. There is a lot of play between each channel so you can really hear the nuances with head phones. This track has a cyclical structure where there will be a heavy, heavy jackhammering of noise before backing off (slightly) and coming back full force. “Fuck Jesse Power” is one of my favorites and way too short at a minute. It’s a great heaving, lurch and roll with buried vocals. “Ars Nova Sweatshop” actually kinda conjures up that image, halfway between an audio art exhibition and a factory. There is a loop of chiming metallic tones sliced up just about beyond recognition. There seems to be a drumnbass/jungle influence on this record where sounds are fractured and reconstituted into impossibly complex rhythms. After hearing the endpoint of “Ars Nova Sweatshop” you don’t even remember how it started the original loop is manipulated and restructured so completely. “Resident Beardo” features a spoken intro over what sounds to me like a sample of a train going by. There are some great high frequencies here that sound like stuck or breaking gears which are intercut frantically with a low rumble. “Diamond Shoals” closes the side. The track actually has a melodic figure buried way down under the distortion and hi-pitched frequencies sure to make a dog kill itself. The sound source doesn’t seem to be electronic (maybe that lapsteel thing?) which is a nice change of pace.
The second side leads off with “Tiger Woods’ Teeth” which returns to the frenetic traffic jam of multiple 500bps rhythms. Barker plays with dynamics, revealing that behind all the static and noise there are some really cool, fucked up sounds skittering about. “Kings of the Beach” is built around a loop of gadgetry noises. There’s a really low, creeping almost drone-like sound that anchors the piece allowing for the other sounds to get chopped into a million little pieces without seeming messy. “Bring me the Head of JM” is intense and more vocally driven which I don’t respond to so much in harsh noise. I don’t know who JM is but if I was him/her I’d be scared out of my mind because Barker sounds like he means business. “Elizabeth City” is a shockingly pretty track featuring polyphonic synth burbling steeped in static which the occasional dropping of a heavy bass note. It’s a cool track and a nice respite from the pain and exhilaration of the rest of the album’s sound spectrum. “Invisible Yarmulke” closes the album. It’s a bit more clattering than the other tracks without a central driving force. Barker generates mostly an assortment of colliding percussive sounds but some synth tones pop up occasionally which is a nice surprise to find in the craggy din.
I have a love/hate relationship with harsh noise a lot of the time but this is some stuff I can get behind. It’s well-paced and the record keeps you guessing but there’s still a vaguely recognizable composition to most of the tracks here. This record could probably crumble some buildings if played loud enough too. The album is severe but also complex which is a potent combination.
I don’t see a credit anywhere but an A+ goes to whoever mastered this thing, sounds crisp and loud and amazing. A damn fine job. As far as looks go, this LP is the epitome of class. Screenprinted jacket with a big, matching insert and weird circular diagrams that show up on the back cover, insert and labels—even the record sleeve is a matching solid black rather than the standard white. They really wanted to make this look nice as can be and it shows. Still available from Send Help and Malleable for the low, low price of 10 bucks.

Mincemeat or Tenspeed – All Critters [Deathbomb Arc/Malleable/Big Monies Tapes]

Mincemeat or Tenspeed is the stage name of Davey Harms, who according to the press release, wanted to make techno music with rock ‘n roll style but had no synth or sampler or sequencer or drum machine or computer or any instruments either. But he apparently did have a bunch of guitar pedals which he used to make this LP.
Beginning with a distorted pulse that never lets up, “End Times” introduces Harms’ music to your ears like you would introduce a buzzsaw to a piece of wood. It’s amazing how dynamic this music really is and how well Harms controls his array of pedals. Furthermore, it’s also amazing that these really are techno-punk songs. There’s a mechanized rhythmic drive and melodies that build and evaporate. Maybe it’s not quite danceable but it is seizurable, if you are willing to accept that as an actual term. I’ve listened to this record a bunch of times, and I still can’t figure out how this dude pulled off this impossible task. I know there’s tons people out there making noise with pedals (which is rad) but this guy makes melodies and rhythms and songs with them. The end of “End Times” is a perfect example of this where everything breaks down slowly to its base state it becomes apparent just how much manipulating Harms is really doing. The beginning of “Accident Prone” is fuckin’ beautiful. A skittering, lilting bit of frequency shifting before he hits the fuzz and starts knocking heads. Even then though, the beauty of the composition shines through. He continues to ramp things up unleashing all sorts of little melodies and piling them all on top of each other. There’s also a groovin’ “duh duh-duh duh” (bad impression) that keeps things going and fingers snapping. At the end there’s even some stuff that reminds me of good crunk tracks, weird little counter melodies and shit. I don’t how he does it, but he does it.
Side B follows the same path as the first—the fiery barnburner in front with the quieter contemplative-ish piece bringing up the rear. “Root Furs” is the first of the two tracks on the second side. Beginning with a cybertronic, continually glitching melody. Things start blasting with a relentlessly fast throb of fuzz on top of which the melodies dance like brain fried fireflies. Things get their gnarliest on the record here with heavy crunch overtaking everything. Then—poof—it’s gone and the final track “All Critters” begins. With an extended intro it takes a moment to cast it’s spell. Upon of the entry of a resistant, twisting melody I’m hooked. Harms chops this up a bit and messes with speeds, fragmenting the track. Despite this the track always has a center so the fragments are just flickers of beauty and ugliness but never disrupt the track in a problematic way.
I've never heard anything quite like this. I’ve heard pedal noise and electro-punk but never so integrated and precise. I hope this guy plays my town so I can see him in action. It’s gotta be a mindblower. This LP is still available from all three of the labels that co-released it (Big Monies Tapes, Deathbomb Arc, Malleable) and it comes cheap and with fantastic artwork of animals moshing at Davey’s last show by Mark Price, beautifully rendered as a fold-out, double-sided, multi-color screenprint job. A visual beauty to match the tunes.