At first, “I Don’t Know” is in psychedelic freefall, chugging through fuzz without any real desire to develop further. Then it finds a signal, this station of temporary clarity… in come some vocals, back comes the static over top—it’s all quite nice.
Ulrika Spacek formed in Berlin and are now based in Homerton, London. Details beyond that, have yet to enter this newly registered SoundCloud.
Rebecca FIN Simonetti joined us in the Newtown studio this week. Her live performance—built with bedazzled sampler, mixer, and an amazing voice—came in two waves, opening the show and later returning for a second sequence. In between those, the usual flow, setlist below:
0:00 – 18:00 – FIN [live]
Dialect – Chroma / Strange Grave
Inner Oceans – 8 Cousins (walkman dub)
Sun Pack – Lagoon
The Variable Why – I Can Barely See You
Los Angeles Police Department – Water And Wine
Inventions – Peregrine
Kreng – Depression
1:00:00 – 1:17:00 – FIN [live]
Sonmi451 – Valavond
Gunwale – Bethany
Ryuichi Sakamoto / Illuha / Taylor Deupree – Movement, 3
“Bad Day Song” begins pleasantly enough to justify questioning its own name. But, as the widening waveform indicates above, the bad does arrive, or, conceivably, gets purged and pulverized… lead on a belt to nowhere, to the grey landing place for all the faulty parts of an unfortunate afternoon.
This volatile contrast runs throughout Under the Sheepherder Bridge, the solo debut from Dale Eisinger as Fishers. There are harsh moments (which makes sense considering he’s one half of awesome NY noise duo YVETTE). Between those are stretches of damaged folk and exploratory texture. Dale talks in spots and sings in others—as does Godmode friend Matty Fasano (“Bad Day Song”, “Death Valley”). The set feels both collaged and cohesive… very much a heady, front-to-back kind of listen.
That can be done digitally and via cassette thanks to Crash Symbols.
The ancient Yellow Bell. A fundamental tone in Chinese tradition adjusted through time to reflect society’s place in the cosmic order, forever connecting sound to systems of universal harmony and structure.
The perennial Yellow Bell. A desert shrub that blooms brightly in the shape of bells, attracting honey bees, yet—useful to know—unlike most flowering plants, the honey produced from its pollen is poisonous.
Yellow Bell, an album of ambient variations and transient frequencies, Jasmine Guffond’s debut under her own name (previously: Jasmina Maschina, Minit). The first bell is cited inspiration. The latter is a fitting (if unverified) abstraction. Precisely halfway through “Useful Knowledge”, its drone gives way to processed hums and softly advancing synth lines… to something warmer. Maybe the cosmos are shifting; maybe the sun is rising over cool sand. Maybe the toxins are setting in.
The LP, with handmade cardboard/textile packaging, is out as of last week on Sonic Pieces.