Burntable - Burntable

So I was going to review Psychic TV album this evening and I already had words like "legendary", "with huge impact", "industrial pioneers" etc. ready for this, but finally I thought - why the fuck should I write about them? It was just this short idea and that's it. What's the point in writing about re-released album that was recorded years ago, when so many people are doing this here and now, and it seems that nobody cares about them. So I leave this very important release for some serious researchers and start spinning Burntable tape. I guess this is one-time noise collaboration and this tape, released in an excellent Finnish improv/noise/junk/etc. noise label is first and, most likely, last one. Burntable consists of 5 persons, more or less known in improv music world and though this style is absolutely not my cup of tea, but I like the smell and sound of this tape. This project is mainly from South Korea, though one musician originates from California, but he also lives in Seoul for quite some time. Main participants in this project - Balloon and Needle label and Astronoise project owner, oriented more towards audio art and performances. He also operates Manual label and the most interesting thing about him - usage of typewriters in his audio creations. While talking about interesting musical means, there are quite a lot of them in this record too - typewriter, snare, turntable, self-made objects, modified calculators, spinning forks (I guess that's more interesting than typewriters and calculators) and more garbage. There are two tracks, lasting for 20 minutes. I doubt that I'd be too happy if this record would be pure improv experimental for quite often the more "art" there is, the more I don't understand it and then I get pretty nervous that I can't understand it and write some negative things about it, and start whining. A side sounds like quite nice and not pushy harsh noise. It’s chaotic, sluggishly moving, but keeping attention and interest in piercing feedbacks noise. I should also mention track titles - A side is The High Fire, B side - The Low Scorch. They directly reflect frequency zones where the sound is constructed. Yes, A side burns in noisy fire, heated by contact microphone sounds and wilderness of feedbacks. And B side isn't too tasty for my ears. The sound is more concentrated in middle and lower frequencies; it is calmer, more experimental and more boring. Of course there is more musical value in B side - more sounds, subtle changes, you can hear separate instruments better, but after expression of side A, it's rather difficult to reorient myself to this calmness. Though after some time I get used to it and The Low Scorch seems beautiful too. This track is absolutely different from the first one. You need to pay more attention, but everything comes in its own time in this tape. Even that small paper with notes that fell out of the tape box with explanation that some idiot in Nekorekords wrote the link to the webpage of the label incorrectly, is in its place and it fell out in time. All in all – it’s good.

Format: CS
Released: 2012
Label: Nekorekords