After a long hiatus from their Number None collaboration, Chicago’s Chris Miller and Jeremy Bushnell return with ‘Strategies Against Agriculture’. The ironic play on the Einstürzende Neubauten title is not pure comedy when considered on the spectrum amidst Wolves in the Throneroom’s primitivist screed against GMO wheat, ‘Malevolent Grain,’ and the Jared Diamond quote inside the fold of the J-card; nor is the tone of the side-long tape, a blending of their former cyber-hardcore aesthetic with the usurpation of Locrian’s black metal sensibilities, occultist visions, and over-driven sound fields. “Vile Gnarl,” the introduction and case-in-point, swarms with guitar feedback, and races with bands of lowered-frequency groan under the weight of this dense accumulation. The compositions remain familiar to the classic Null setup: canvas stretched tight of longform drone-noise; the motoric churn of “ID-vision” condensates like a Daniel Menche symphony without ever breaking the fever; the simultaneous deathtone/firestorm “Viagra/Lunesta” achieves a binaural tension, stretching the listener between alchemy-induced modes of staying up; “KKKamera”, whatever the reference, clinches the loathsome locks dreaded through these four tracks, moaning rhythmically, amid industrial churn and the golden silt of sharply-pitched oscillations. An understated and contiguous comeback. On pro-pressed tapes with glossy, full-color insert. 100 copies.
Land of Decay cassette
$6.5
HERE
Another exemplar in impressionism, framing, and anonymity, the sole release by Black Velvet Stereo called ‘Metal Rain Machine’ runs the scope of Sacred Phrases and spills over even, into the metabolic terrain of ‘Drive’-based nostalgia from Cliff Martinez and Symmetry. “Fire Forest”, “Red Stone”, “Cold Mountains” summarize well the swift overviews of side one, a twilight tear through burning California hills artificially-darkened by smoke. Organic synthesized cloth-ing and conspicuously synthesizer-qua-synthesizer form a nice contrast of droning vibes and environment, and authoritative leads which zag like neon pin-stripping for its own sake. The reverse features a separate mise-en-scene, more optimistic and meteorological, with high-frequency tones in light spectrums, like the post-draught recovery of the cliff-side chaparral: tweeting, budding and buzzing, the tones stay close to the soggy ground, releasing air effervescently and clipping tendrils of vapor in their infancy. Admittedly, the tone shifts midway, with “The Wind”, a sort of reprise of side A’s nihil and race, now rendered in cool streaks and metallic curbs with unending sight-lines.