moozz wrote: ↑Wed Jan 11, 2023 4:36 am
Recently got Reslayer, Electric Field In Parallel, Threshold and Mechanical Abstraction and they are all great harsh noise/noisecore. 2022 was a fantastic year for Sissy Spacek.
All 4 are extremely good. I finally listened to Threshold last night and was particularly blown away. Not sure why, but gave me a nostalgic feel of discovering noise for the first time. All albums this year could honestly end up in their "best of" list across the discography. They get better and better.
I feel like Mumma in particular had a great year. He had a bunch of tapes/CDs across other projects as well and I really liked his releases as Systemic Sewage on Prose Nagge and Oxen. He also had some more obscure releases under a different project name, I can't seem to recall now, unfortunately.
Giving the latest album Absorbing Wanting Symbols on Petite Soles a spin.
Stellar all-star lineup including Aaron Dilloway, Richard Ramirez, Sean Matzus, and Bill Nace across the album. Sissy Spacek truly represents a multi-headed collaborative beast of artists and I love the variance across the discography.
The first two tracks labeled Alternative Universe 1 and 2 feature Dilloway, Ramirez, and Matzus as well as Wiese and Mumma. Dilloway's contributions are immediately noticeable and take the forefront on these tracks. A lot of percolating loops and punctuated sounds bubble into and out of focus from all contributors. A noise soup of the highest order!
Tracks 3 and 4 labeled as Unseen 1 and 2 are up next and feature Ramirez and Matzus as the main collaborators this time around. These tracks very much represent the harshest and densest sounds that the two are known for. Absolutely crushing full spectrum frequency use across the sounds. Dense dense dense.
The 5th and final track called Orange Autopsy features Bill Nace with Wiese and Mumma. The main setup of this is definitely more of a "band" situation as there is guitar, drums, and Wiese on electronics. However, the results still sound like an all-out noise blast and less of a free jazz or free improv track.
The Sissy Spacek project has overtaken Wiese's solo output at this point and is a truly remarkable entity. The sheer volume and quality of material released is dumbfounding. I feel like someone could write a book or essay on the various mutations and branching of lineups and sounds throughout the years. Wiese has done some interviews in the past, but I'm curious if he would join Noisextra or WCN for a Sissy Spacek-specific retrospective discussion.
Last edited by Lactating Tardigrade on Sat Jul 29, 2023 5:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Sissy Spacek - Cosm CD (Helicopter)
Cosm finds Sissy Spacek teaming up with the one and only Masahiko Ohno (Solmania). The line-up is the core duo of Charlie Mumma on drums, John Wiese on bass and organ(!), and Masahiko Ohno of course on guitar. This is one of the free improvisation-based versions of Sissy Spacek. More similar to Prismatic Parameter than any of the grind or noise incarnations of the group. This definitely has it's own unique sound however and isn't anything like Prismatic Parameter two. Wiese uses the organ to create a very muddy and blown-out sound underneath the improvised skirmishes of Ohno and Mumma. The pacing is jagged and raucous. A very strange-sounding beast. A mix between free jazz organ trio and sci-fi 50s or 60s space monster soundtrack?! A truly unique listening experience and not exactly like anything I've heard Sissy Spacek do before. The organ truly gives this album a unique sound.
Merzbow/Sissy Spacek - Coronado 2xCD (Helicopter/Troniks)
Mumma and Wiese team up with Masami Akita for 88 minutes of all-out noise. Phil Blankenship also shows up to collaborate on a track. 20 tracks spread across two discs and every song is four minutes and some change. A mail collaboration between all parties and not much other information is offered up. I haven't been keeping up with Merzbow for quite some time, I'm not sure exactly what kind of set-up he or the other guys are using here as the notes are very minimal.
Right off the bat, the tracks are VERY active and contain a TON of detail in how the source material is cut up and layered. Very precise Wiese editing on display as sounds are constantly shifting and snaking. The soundscape is definitely more of a digital sound as the Wiese and Akita sound sources seem far more upfront than Mumma from what I can tell. A lot of digital synth or MSP high-end white noise washes and squiggles. However, it's of the absolute top tier. At times, Mumma's drums are edited in and cut through Wiese and Akita's scorching noise attacks.
This one is a gauntlet and doesn't let up for any of the 88 minutes. A nonstop and aggressive noise front!
I'm really excited for both of these!! They sound excellent. I really enjoyed Absorb Wanting Symbols and Live In Hong Kong which were the only two SS CDs I purchased this year.
I am really hoping to snag a copy of the LP they released on FOAD but I don't order from FOAD direct as I always either get dinged for huge customs fees or wind up waiting 12++++ weeks for things to arrive (no shade on FOAD whatsoever) so I'm waiting for one to pop up domestically (or from a German seller). Hopefully I can find one at some point....
I really want that FOAD LP as well. I think the material is going to be top-notch from the teaser I heard and I have the c10 they released on Blast Addict from the same session which is really solid. John said it was all unique material and no crossover from that tape. It's just a little expensive and not a ton of distribution in North America.
Lactating Tardigrade wrote: ↑Sat Dec 23, 2023 11:15 amMerzbow/Sissy Spacek - Coronado 2xCD (Helicopter/Troniks)
Mumma and Wiese team up with Masami Akita for 88 minutes of all-out noise. Phil Blankenship also shows up to collaborate on a track. 20 tracks spread across two discs and every song is four minutes and some change. A mail collaboration between all parties and not much other information is offered up. I haven't been keeping up with Merzbow for quite some time, I'm not sure exactly what kind of set-up he or the other guys are using here as the notes are very minimal.
Right off the bat, the tracks are VERY active and contain a TON of detail in how the source material is cut up and layered. Very precise Wiese editing on display as sounds are constantly shifting and snaking. The soundscape is definitely more of a digital sound as the Wiese and Akita sound sources seem far more upfront than Mumma from what I can tell. A lot of digital synth or MSP high-end white noise washes and squiggles. However, it's of the absolute top tier. At times, Mumma's drums are edited in and cut through Wiese and Akita's scorching noise attacks.
This one is a gauntlet and doesn't let up for any of the 88 minutes. A nonstop and aggressive noise front!
I just pulled the trigger on this one after reading your review!!! Thank you!!!
got cosm, the merzbow 2cd, a shirt, and he threw in a copy of Deviate From Balance, a cd with recordings of graphic scores and similar. gonna dive in to everything tomorrow hopefully
xIncorruptibleCorpse777x wrote: ↑Tue Dec 26, 2023 9:49 pm
I just pulled the trigger on this one after reading your review!!! Thank you!!!
Nice, I hope you like it! I think it's a great album and it's always a nice treat when Wiese and Merzbow team up. Like I mentioned, I don't keep up with a lot of Merzbow's material anymore but I always check out everything he does when he teams up with Wiese.
Quick note about the Sissy Spacek Cosm album with Solmania. The track titles are Oumuamua Pt/1, 2, and 3. I thought the name Oumuamua sounded familiar but didn't make the connection the first listen through. Oumuamua is the first interstellar object detected passing through the Solar System back in October 2017. The sounds make a lot more sense to me now having known that. There is definitely an interstellar and space theme in the soundscape. Knowing this bit of information really tied the release together for me. I think this one is going to be a love it or hate it release for some folks. I kind of alluded to it in my first description, but I'll more bluntly say that the album kind of sounds like Sissy Spacek doing Sun Ra.
