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Number 003 in the Disques Lexi catalog is this EP from The Rebel, with more great sleeve art...this label is off with some quality releases right from the beginning, and definitely things I would not have come across otherwise.
There's a great interview here with The Rebel from Foxy digitalis about the 7" artwork and playing it at the wrong speed (which I did too, maybe inspired by the Mudboy single or maybe just because I also am an idiot), I like his take on being original: it's too easy, choosing a name as ungoogle-able like The Rebel, and literally drawing on an existing 45 sleeve to come up with their art, it's obvious. He's been trying to be original for years and look where it got him. Then I see he's got a new album coming out called 'The Incredible Hulk' and that worked out pretty well, so why not borrow that? An old nazi symbol? Sure, throw that in there. With songs like 'Aiming low, getting high', it's a syrupy slow catchy, layers of differently affected vocals, different pitches, different lyrics. Slowed down bass...it's like this was played back at half speed...slow guitar meanderings...but then you're singing about getting high so Ben is really going all out for that weed demographic. That's an easy target.
Next up, The Pot is sound collage, backwards beat, kids playing, chanting, synth plodding, repeating....I thought for a minute this was a lock groove, but no, it just goes on and on towards the end.
Next target? Video games. The B-Side has some of the most terrifying glitch electronics that slowly become a casio / gameboy beat...and there's a brief pause before 'Riding in the sun', he's cornering the slowcore low-fi scene. It's a challenge to stick with it. This includes some kind of text being read about world war two, turns out it's from a text, 'The history of the Jews'...well Ben isn't leaving anyone out of his sights, that's for sure.I think this one is only available so far from Disques Lexi direct. Lexi003, The Rebel, 'Aiming Low EP' 7-inch The Country Teasers frontman Ben Wallers (Scotland) is back! Four songs, 2 twisted pop gems, a very nice cover designed by The artist, surprising sleeve notes partly en français s’il vous plait. Aiming Low 7” promotes an album to come at the end of this year on Junior Aspirin.
Lexi002, Mudboy, 'Music For Any Speed' 7-inch New single in for review today from a new label Disques Lexi out of Belgium. Right away I'm always impressed by thought that goes into these art objects. Super thick picture disc mylar houses a fold out newsprint poster that Catherine from Disques Lexi took in her garden, it's duotone orange and black, and very creepy, a person in some kind of superimposed black cape sits on the end of a young girls hand...she doesn't seem too unhappy about it though, and there's a long history of kids creepily not being scared by things they should...like poltergeists. The last I heard from Mudboy was on DNT records, and I remember hearing something about this ambitious series of singles across a bunch of labels, so I'm assuming this is the latest in the scavenger hunt. Now the title right away has me hooked. Music for any speed. I think I have a personal problem with speed on the more experimental...if it's not there somewhere, then you can bet I'll listen for a while at the wrong speed. I want to know the artists intention. Mudboy solves that problem here right away. It's up to you. So now I can be right no matter what. The insert describes it:
How could these arrangements of sound, this organization of noise possibly matter if absorbed at a distance, which is high speed; or up close, microscopic and slowed down? Do I not hear the same thing? is not every moment passing through my skull? As such these two songs are one. It's an interesting point, music is a time based medium, you can only spend as much time with it as the device allows, and here's where he takes amazing advantage with this format, how is this going to sound when meant for both speeds? The lowly collectible single is completely tied to hearing this work, it can't exist in another format...and I have a special place in my heart, and shelf for singles that take the uniqueness of the format into account.
I have to wonder too if after this piece was recorded some software was used to get an idea how it was going to sound, or he wrote in real time keeping that in mind, and part of the piece too was the unknown in slowing down or speeding it up? The A-Side 'Thaw' (now wait a second Mudboy, you can't put a running time after these track names!!!! You just said it's up to me! What if I put it on 78? It's not going to be 4 minutes 32 seconds!) has a definite Irish electronic feel. Or Scottish? I plead ignorance in my non indie rock music forms...it's electronic bagpipe sounding...all the notes at once, chords emerging as notes fall away. I can't get over at what speed was it recorded...it sounds fine at 45...a little quick maybe? It's a dream sequence in Bladerunner....or a renaissance faire on another planet. I'm hearing some distorted guitar underneath. At 33 it is weird to suddenly pick apart different sounds, this opening I didn't even catch the first time, but it easily works at this speed as well, it's not out obviously out of place. The organ sound is more pronounced in this version, this sort of airy pipe organ...that's new. Weird.The B-Side 'Freeze' definitely sounds like it's picking up off of the end of the A-Side, that distorted guitar is fading out with the synth underneath, there's a darker melody working here and since freezing isn't a comfortable idea, I can see where this is headed. The guitar sounds get more and more deconstructed as the song goes on, weird gates and filters, turning it into a sawblade stutter. The onimous organ never leaves and the second half of this movement is just barely moving as it gets colder and colder and everything stops.There is a download code for this release, but again, you'll have to use some kind of pitch bend to hear it both ways...or for that matter I guess any number of ways, it's always great to have this option, but it kind of defeats the purpose. 7"'s - 1, Digital files - 0. Available from Disques Lexi's site or Mudboys own and DNT is supposed to have some, probably in their next update.
Another one coming tomorrow from the Disques, from The Rebel.....
