A very strange collection of groups thrown together on this record to which I still am a bit clueless as to what links them all together (even after reading the long-winded and unnecessary liner notes affixed to the front cover).
First side goes right into Smegma and does not disappoint; typical freeform weirdness at its finest, abraded by wild ethnic horns, improvised percussion, broken transmissions and on/off organ pitching mixed up in a blender of unknown sounds.
K.K. Rampage seems almost instantly out of place on this record, delivering a very odd hybrid of no wave/post-punk sound structure blended with almost borderline metal breakdowns. A tad sloppy in parts, channeling a brief period of time in which bands like Arab On Radar and labels like Three One G roamed free on the turntables, these guys might have showed up a little too late to the party.
Insect Joy’s three cuts make it clear that you’re witnessing a band who is simply throwing together sloppy grooves and poor sound structure and slapping the experimental sticker on it. Nothing impressive or very thought out ever comes out of their music.
As counter-balance, Brooklyn-based free jazz/noise crossover ensemble Ghost Moth shows up with two part solid jams which stitch together harsh oscillated noise with superb improvisations by jazz legend Daniel Carter.
(Ryan Martin).
