Genre: Experimental / Improv / Noise

Side A: Blastocyst
01 Nexium ad Digitalis
02 Blur Car Blur Eyes Bur Suit
03 Clandestine Beers Of The Casserollers
04 Marjoe Works For Free

Side B : Reverse Mouth
01 Somebody Put Something In My Drink (Hair)

Some funny phrases have been bandied about in the independent music press over the past few years like 'free jazz underground' and 'weird new America' only to describe what ? Is it not enough to accept the fact that anyone anywhere can equally embrace the works of Albert Ayler, Throbbing Gristle, The Boredoms and Ligeti in this age of information overload? Freewheeling free-form freakouts are a freaking fact of life these days so just accept it for what it is: new music. Call it noise if you like, but time will ultimately judge what goes into your kiddies history books. There's a reason why certain music transcends and others fall by the wayside and it's not just marketing folks. Did Anthony Braxton and Wolf Eyes jam together to sell more records ? More a sign of the times than the joker that conceived of that split LP of such disparate souls as Sun Ra and John Cage. 'Let's put the two biggest weirdos of their genres....etc.'

Weirdos of the new school unite on this split LP. Two duos from two continents that are kindred spirits in more ways than one. No, they really don't sound anything alike, but still make for a nice pair here. Hell, they've even toured and lived together. A bit of yin and yang maybe?

Blastocyst have done the bulk of their damage in Brooklyn, but have roots in free music birthed from their playing in the larger George Steeltoe Ensemble (initially formed in Kentucky several years back). Pared down to a duo, Jay Dunbar (bass/voice/electronics) and Brian Osborne (drums/voice/electronics) shed any jazz tendencies or academic leanings and check their bags at the door. It's not overtly rock enough or noisy enough to pigeonhole, but they create something wholly their own while delivering a truly glorious racket with some unwholesome sonic expletives. Straight out of the box they unleash a torrent of cathartic destruction that never lets up throughout the first number. It's like a sick hybrid of Discordance Axis and Whitehouse with the combined power of both groups melting all inhibitions. The second track could almost pass as an outtake from a Butthole Surfers lysergic meltdown after-hours jam from their mid-80s period of acid-damaged noise-rock; you know...a pulsating puddle of sorts. 'Clandestine Beers Of The Casserollers' flails around on the ground a bit and comes up to teeter on tippy-toes only to get shoved back down for some carpet burn. Or, if you prefer, it's more like stage-diving at the municipal landfill after spending happy hour at the waste water treatment plant. The last track draws initially from some tasty psychedelic loop-work before the duo wail all over your ass like some PCP-agitated gangbanger. Oh well, they seemed like nice guys.

The Greek duo Reverse Mouth consists of Panagiotis Spoulos and Sofia Zoitu, but who does what is a mystery to me. I'm familiar with some of their previous work, but this one is somewhat of a departure. The first couple of minutes are nearly silent until little bits of feedback and prepared guitar bubble to the surface. As smoke fills the room, the duo indulge in some delay-infused trippy improvising. This pretty much sets the pace for the entire side: a really intimate, warm and almost sensual excursion. For a group known to shred speakers on some of their past releases, this is a real treat. It's not placid by any means, but displays some admirable and comfortable discipline. I'd even go so far as to say that there's a kinship here with the first couple of Cluster LPs without an analogue synth in sight. The feedback control is especially impressive. Are these kids mellowing with age or refining their art? Ultimately, who cares? As long as they keep at it, I'll be a happy man.

So is this the free weird new underground noise that everyone's talking about? I personally don't find anything weird about it as this shit feels like home to me. Maybe that says more about myself than it does about this record. Life is short and so is the pressing of this LP, 100 copies in fact. Go.