Ian Dominick Fernow is a busy man. Besides working at his record label Hospital Productions (located in Manhattan) he churns out an amazing number of releases. Prurient is his best-known moniker but he has multitudes, fitting in with the noise community’s insistence on vast quantity.
Force Publique Congo is a murky affair. Perhaps that is due to the cassette origin of these two tracks. They do work together. At only around ten minutes, they form a certain relationship, with each piece contributing and reacting to the other.
Side A focuses on the atmospherics. Ian talks about the history of the Congo. This side is full of unrequited threat. Little sounds wail in and out of the mix. While side A threatens, side B delivers on that threat. Once side B begins you’re subjected to a harsher wall of noise, perhaps in keeping with the sounds on early Whitehouse recordings. Unlike the first side, you can’t make out anything Ian is saying, if he’s saying anything anyway.
While this is so short it is a satisfying listen. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Perhaps it has to do with the short nature. I like hearing Ian’s terse delivery on the A side, so that may contribute to it. Really though, this is simply a well done two tracker. Basically if you’re interested in Ian’s more atmospheric work (and he has been showing a lot of inclinations with Kevin Drumm’s recent release) this is as good a place as any to start.