14 rhythms for Jamilla / This beehive state [split tape]
Mastered by Jacques Beloeil
Visual by Marjo Tou & pw
Chrome C60 cassette
Tanuki Records #3
released 21 February 2013
Reviews
From Pierre Cécile at Le son du grisli
Enfourner une cassette dans le vieux lecteur quand on ne connaît aucun des intervenants de ladite cassette n’est pas chose aisée. Mais cela peut réserver des surprises.Face A Woodger Speece, Face B Thierry Burnhout. L’un et l’autre s’en donnent à cœur joie pour vous changer les habitudes expérimentales. D’abord dans une noise à crachements et larsens des moins originales, certes. Mais ensuite dans une cadence qui s’installe, broyant toutes les régularités : ça crache encore, ça vous fait sursauter, mais aussi fredonner sur bandes, ou siffler sur des cracks à la Richard Chartier revenu d’Amityville. Bref, Woodger Speece quelques fois et Burnhout surtout ont de quoi remuer de fond en comble toutes les idées que vous vous faisiez de la noise, et toutes celles que vous vous faisiez de l’ambient. Pas mal, pour des inconnus.
By Brian Olewnick at Just Outside
Woodger Speece is Pauwel de Buck. His pieces flicker between electronic noise and fractured semi-dance rhythms, all subject to deterioration. The sounds tend toward the sharp and thin, often cackling and yielding high-pitched whines and wheezes. There’s a mechanical feel, as of some rickety, jerry-rigged contraption run amok. One sometimes imagines whole crews of miniature street workers with inch-long jackhammers. Not quite up my alley but engaging enough at times. Thierry Burnhout’s “This Beehive State” commences with a lovely, low drone adorned with discreet pops; given the title, one is hard-pressed not to think of a hive’s hum with the pops representing individual arrivals and departures of worker bees. This continues throughout, the drone changing pitch and timbre periodically, sliding into an organ-y area. It’s very comfortable music, not so demanding but an enjoyable wallow, the clicks adding just enough grit to offset any potential cloying aspect. Nice work, would like to hear more from him.
By Frans de Waard in Vital Weekly
The last tape is by two bands/projects/people I never heard of, Woodger Speece and Thierry Burnhout. No information whatsoever. To make life more easy, I guess. Because I start guessing, some disgruntled artists/label manager/fan comes forward and tells me I am not a journalist/all wrong/and why the hell do you assume these things? It’s not mentioned on the tape, but let’s say Woodger Speece are on side A and Thierry Burnhout on side B. Woodger Space creates some odd music, which holds somewhere between noise and electro-acoustic object bashing, but it’s also quite a lo-fi recording (Jacques Beloeil must have had a particular job on this), which makes it difficult to say anything sensible about it. It’s alright, is that ok? Thierry Burnhout seems to be at the end of drone music. Hardly surprising music, but in the light of what I just heard with these other tapes on the same label, one could easily state this is the most musical release of this lot. Maybe I write that with a sigh of relief? This would be something I’d love to hear again, and goes beyond ‘ah um interesting’. (FdW)
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