RomanianMyth – Folk Language 6.8

           Occasionally I find something so weird, so utterly bizarre that my mouth sits agape. When I discovered this weird group of laptop-wielding gypsies my reaction was entirely appropriate. You see I’ve hoped and longed for the day where “Polka-Noise” would become a genre. As I looked down at the description of this band and saw “Power-Polka” my eyes welled up with tears. Years of searching for a ridiculous genre finally bore fruit. 

                How does the music stand up? I’d say fairly well. The group references elements of Pita and Farmers Manual to some degree. Pita’s influence can be felt in the beginning of the album which for me is the stronger half. “Haulita” sounds remarkably similar to early Pita sonic experiments. For a noise album, this is about as gentle a beginning as anyone could expect. 

                “Cosmar Popular” may be the most punk part of the entire album. Starting off with sweet, delicate violins RomanianMyth set off trying to destroy the music. On “Folk Wedding” despite the heavy dollops of noise (even a beat!) it never loses focus of energetic samples. For a finale, they have the distorted to death “Natural Natural song” which sounds like a CD skipping gone very wrong.

                This may have been better had they employed multiple noise techniques besides simply layering noise on top of the samples. Using Pita as an example, had they decided to work with the samples to create a larger sound (such as in Pita’s famous song “3” off of ‘Get Out’) I might have been a bit more compelled by what was occurring. Despite that problem, I enjoyed this short diversion of an album. For a noise group, they have a fantastically absurd sense of humor.Wander on Laptop Gypsies.

Massimo – Hello Dirty 8.4

 What ever happened to this Sicilian guy? Anyway, Massimiliano Sapienza absolutely knew that noise music needed a much needed boost. Usually, most noise artists have to pick between being overly academic (Yasunao Tone) or overly juvenile (Cock E.S.P). Straddling both sides of the divide, Massimo shows a real talent for form.

The dirty aspect might be seen in the tasteful album art. Or it could also be seen in some of Massimo frame of reference (using pop rock bits, dance bits, thrown into the mix). But he displays a surprising amount of agility in handling the transformation of the songs through his excessive use of volume and bass. 

Right from the get-go you hear the song roaring up into almost unbelievably loud noise. But then, a stop occurs. He uses the silence as a way of messing with your head in this first track, to shock you, much like John Wiese’s album “Soft Punk”. Nor is this sort of stop-gap limited to the first track, he employs a few different times to great effect. 

Using guitar riffs makes the music recommendable for people unaccustomed to this sort of sound, particularly on tracks 3 and 4. Obviously you might want to ease your way into it volume wise, but I do advise listening to it loudly on headphones. That way you get the overwhelmed sensation that he’s clearly striving for. 

Finally, at the end we get a dance beat through as much distortion as he can muster. He allows the samples to still be decipherable. But the sheer brilliance comes at the end as he allows the sample to continue. And then it ends. 

 If someone wanted an introduction to noise, this would be a good place to start.

Akita/Azuma/Haswell/Sakaibara – Ich Schnitt Mich In Den Finger 5.6

Considering the amount of talent in these proceedings it is a surprisingly boring affair. Russell Haswell is a pretty intense, detail-oriented character and the rest worked with Merzbow during his live performances. Yet, for whatever reason, a lot of this dwells in the quieter spectrum of things, and the sounds are annoying cheesy.

                The opener “Ich” does increase the volume and intensity. Here is probably the only place where the Theremin works to benefit rather than to the detriment of the piece. If you had to encounter any part of this piece, here would be the best place to choose.

                Other than the opening which has some interesting moments, the rest of it is relatively bland. Merzbow runs into the same problem they usually have: by focusing on output more than quality, they end up with a few dazzling moments and the rest as an extreme form of sonic wallpaper. This is a pity too, because Mego tends to have better pretty high standards for noise releases. Even for die-hard Russell Haswell or Merzbow fans, this is rather empty.

Farmers Manual – No Backup 8.9

I think Farmers Manual embodies the myth of the nerd. The amount of information floating around about these people is ridiculous and not all of it is accurate. Among the more interesting tidbits: they recorded in a disused auto repair shop, they worked in the advertising industry, were influential wiki makers before it was cool, and heavily participated in the Viennese electronic scene in the early nineties.  Due to the conflicting information, I can only confirm the last bit.

Numerous anonymous web junkies were involved in the proceedings, but the main anchors were Mathias Gmachl, Stefan Possert, and Oswald Berthold. Together these three brought much weird music into the world, but I’m going to focus on their first effort, No Backup.

What distinguishes this record from so many other Mego releases is how it merges the normal with the sublimely weird. Usually Mego releases (especially the early ones) were either dance or extremely experimental. No Backup included both, so you could play it for your friend who grew up on Aphex Twin, and he’d know it was different, but would not be able to put his finger on it.

According to the few interviews that existed with this trio, the music’s focus was rhythm, not melody. Upon starting up the disc, you see what they mean. “Macro-Woeb” does consist of a warped sense of time keeping. “Biomagic I” could pass as a dance track, except the infinite ratcheting of suspense and an ever insistent near-melody makes such a thing impossible. The follow up of “Biomagic II” is like listening to the previous track getting dissembled into its most basic elements. 

Most of the music on here has a sense of humor to it, whether it is of the sorts of sounds used or the extremely bizarre references. “Perimeter 87” gives off the impression of a lackadaisical spy with its stuttering guitar-like sounds. But one of my favorite songs on here has to be “Farmers Manual”. It is nothing more than oddly delayed high-hats, which remove any sense of dance. What is interesting is how the background noises are the actual song, and the synthesizer in the background, giving the only hint of progression, is going through a quiet breakdown.  

Farmers Manual are currently on hiatus following their release of every live performance they ever did (the RLA) in 2003. But this is perhaps the easiest way of getting acquainted with their sound. Consider it a Rosetta stone for their later recordings.