Without a doubt my favorite thing Nick Hoffman has set his mind – and label – to so far. Hoffman (Katchmare, labels Scissor Death and Pilgrim Talk) collaborates with Stephen Holliger as Veyou for this painfully-short C10 called ‘Carcass in the Mist’. Evoking more mist than carcass, the pair of tracks thrive on breathing room and nurturing repetition to develop into two immediately-immersive listening escapes. Self-titled “basement electronics”, their approach is less exiled than introverted, meaning the music they produce isn’t the anxious sound of rejection and loathing but rather quiescent and purposeful. They want to be there. Having now flipped the tape over several times, I no longer know which is the title track and which is “Metal Shaker”, but the gilded silt of one’s looping drone works in rich compliment to the watery airs of the other, where voices distend and strings pang under an ungiving tape buzz. Half machines and half atmosphere, the pair capture most of what’s right with experimental music in the time it takes most folks to decide they’ll scrap their set. 50 copies and highly recommended.
Pilgrim Talk cassette
$6
HERE