from foxy digitals:

Bright and Dark Lightby Nathan Young
Bright and Dark Light is an 8-sided cassette album from the Earjerk label, a Madison Wisconsin based label run by Endless (who was in Davenport and is also in the oh so excellent Drunjus) that is releasing some pretty interesting psychedelic and drone music from around the world, while still putting out a number of their homegrown acts, focusing on the brilliance of what seems to be one of the most prolific droners in the Midwest (read an excellent Foxy Digitalis feature on the label here). Dark and Light is a great example of how each of these homegrown music makers participates in a larger conversation or movement that forsakes skinny jeans, vests and sunglasses, instead opting for truly unflinching avant-gardening, pairing tracks from artists from around the world such as the always amazing Sorc’henn, Black Sparrow and Taikuri Tali with local heroes Drunjus, Burial Hex and Crystal Dragon. Throw all this together with a face-melter from Dayton, Ohio’s Teeth Collection and you have a collection that pretty much encapsulates the current state of underground psychedelic drone noise, um, music. This comes in the format/packaging of choice in the noise underground, packaged in a white vinyl 4-cassette tape-box with suitable black and white psychedelic images on off-white paper with an insert. Ultimately this is a great mix, in honor of the exhaustive survey I’m presuming. So here’s a rundown of what’s inside: 

Sorc’henn “A Dozen Moons Against The Sun”Angers, France’s own Sorc’henn has as of late been receiving some much deserved recognition, most notably by way of head druid Julian Copes praise and seal of approval a la his Head Heritage website record of the month. That recording, his recent Crucial Blast cd totally rules, and has guest help from a member of L'Acephale who basically are one of the craziest occult black metal bands on the planet. In fact, I’ve never heard a bum note from the dude, so starting off with him makes complete sense, and the man does deliver. “A Dozen Moons Against The Sun” starts off with a searing and deep electronic drone, white hot noise crashing like wave or storm clouds, whoa. Eventually a beautifully blissed-out looped drone singing enters. Then shit just settles into some of the heaviest most beautiful and doomed ohm. This pretty much encapsulates all of what is really best about what artists like Sorc’henn and other experimental doom electronic whatever (Xela, Svarte Greiner) are doing, that is to say, just letting shit rip. (Full disclosure and shameless plug: the writer of this article will soon be releasing a Sorc’henn cassette on Peyote Tapes – NVIT) 

Teeth Collection “Untitled”Teeth Collection play a type of early industrial style in the order of Blue Sabbath Black Cheer and have in fact done a split with those guys so it’s gotta be heavy duty right? It is but more in an echoing, scraping, metal, creepy chamber music kind of way. Which is to say whoa! Not enough of that shit coming around nowadays! This side eventually morphs into industrial metallic clouds that billow till they break. Nice. These dudes had a killer release on Peasant Magik, now way out of print, a way long discography that looks well worth the time and investigation. P.S. These dudes also appear on another recently released exhaustive box set documenting the best in today’s psych/experimental/drone/whatever underground, The Static Hymnal (Husk/Factotum/Hung Like a Horse). 

Drunjus “Silo (version)”Label owner Endless plays in Drunjus, so it would make total sense that he would come with a totally choice selection. And without a doubt this is one of the most impressive pieces in the whole bunch recorded in a silo designed by Frank Wright, the sounds that emerge apparently being suitably high brow coming off as some kind of super refined and beard stoking electro-acoustic or early electronic music that dissolves into complete kosmische bliss and then back out again. This is probably, for myself, the most straight up impressive piece in a collection of super solid recordings. Drunjus is really on a streak lately; so glad to that these dudes are keeping shit weird. 

Crystal Dragon “Sirens of Hyperspace”Now we’re delving even deeper into the purely homegrown Madison stuff. Crystal Dragon is a name that is totally new to me, but from what I can tell from this recording is that they traffic in some pretty killer shit. This side starts with some super low and fat square wave oscillations that massage the brain and nervous system, eventually moving into atmospheric swooping over tones that emerge and streak across and over the continual droning oscillations. I’m totally addicted to this stuff. This shit is good, kind of like an occult early electronic music vibe thing going on with these guys. Can’t wait to hear more from them. 

Burial Hex “Untitled”Again, I’m guilty and I have to admit that this is my first introduction to Burial Hex. I’ve been keen to check theses dudes for ages it seemed, just always seemed just out of my grasp. I’d seen references to the almighty Ruth White and the overall aura of blackened/occult early electronic music that were quite enticing, like drool-inducing usually for me. The principal musician in Burial Hex, Clay Ruby, is know for having given a hand in one way or another in just about every great project to come out of Madison, including playing a key role in early Drunjus and leading the oh so solid Davenport family. So, the pedigree is there, the obligatory obscure ultra-cool and bad ass references are there but does Burial Hex deliver? Upon listening to this side, basically, yes, this is the sound of metal scraping in a cavernous dungeon, the metal echoing to build dense walls of thundering boom, chains dragging and clanging. Very effective. I think this must be Burial Hex’s shout out to Abruptum’s first tape – minus the wailing. 

Black Sparrow “Untitled”Black Sparrow is the UK’s Robin Dickinson, most notable for his work as Slow Listener, a harsh electronic noise project that has been steadily deep frying fried brain cells around the world releasing some killer classic tapes recently on Housecraft recordings, Cloud Valley and Peasant Magik. Black Sparrow is Dickinson’s less harsh country cousin of Slow Listener. On this side I’m thinking I hear bird sounds and quite possibly the sounds of whales. Dickinson somehow makes these sounds warble into the most ghostly sounds. What the fuck does that mean? Does that mean it sounds like some apocalyptic recordings of whales?! Hell yeah! I mean, we’re going to hell for destroying the environment! 

Pan to Scratch “August 2008 V”More Madison artists coming on strong. Starting with fluttering static and TV sounds, the track is eventually overcome by pure unrelenting droning, with almost unheard vocalization, sounding like a child trying to sing but bathed in static and time on tape. Eventually the song morphs into straight up monotone drone with the occasional disruption until it abruptly ends. Blank tape and radio squiggles and a whole lot of hiss take its place. This is like the memory of a Saturday afternoon in your parents house when you were a kid; the TV is playing some old western, you’ve got your newest tape recorder/radio to whatever and a new world of sound possibilities are opening up to you but it’s all melting, clicking and morphing to field recordings of birds, more click and clack, until you’ve discovered the sound of the air conditioner, but it’s melting too. Wait, where are we? Awesome. If you like your drone dirty with lots of chaos and strangeness meet your new favorite band. 

Taikuri Tali “Untitled”Taikuri Tali looks to me to be a Finnish psych super group (all Finnish psych groups are apparently) members doing time in all kinds of killer combos. Niko-matti Ahti is in Päivänsäde, and also plays with Kemialliset Ystävät and Kiila. Pekko Käppi is known for his solo releases (had a CD recently on Peippo) and also plays in various Finnish groups like Päivänsäde. Antti Tolvi is in Rauhan Orkesteri & Lauhkeat Lampaat. This is probably the most dynamic side of the set and without a doubt the most crazily schizophrenic. Taikuri Tali make a toy orchestra with tapes, duck calls, and whatever else. All kinds of weird sounds slide, clash and chug along, pitter patter, squelching, including just their beautiful droning singing that morphs along with the twee cacophony that eventually disintegrates in to a radio wave of some of the best boot scooting boogie that side of Helsinki. This is a serious mindscrabbler in the greatest sense. Finland rules.

So to sum up: lots of droning, drone singing, nods to early electronic music, tape music, blackened French drone metal, Finnish psych supergroup, and English field recording psych WTF. Well done Earjerk, well done. 
-- Nathan Young (31 March, 2009) 

Earjerk's website is here.

from tabs out:

"Bright And Dark Light" 4xCS Box Set (Earjerk)

This four cassette box set on Earjerk arrived at my door about two weeks ago, and I've been mentally compiling a review in my head ever since. Made up of C20s and 30s with a good mixture of artists that I knew and others that were first timers to my ears, it seemed like a daunting task to actually sit down and hammer everything out. After listening to everything multiple times, I think it's time to lay everything on the line.

Sorc'henn's starts things off with a nice track that slowly builds as it goes on. "A Dozen Moons Against The Sun", which is one of only four tracks given a name, the rest left untitled, begins with sparse and eerie reverberations. Almost as if someone was tinkering with a busted music box inside of a cave. The liner notes says this was recorded at a location called The Silver Cave, which is probably just someones basement or living room, but let's just pretend it's an actual cave for now. As the track moves on, ghostly strings are plucked and a heavy blanket of feedback begins to overshadow what was previously a mellow situation. It's actually a good representation of the box set's theme of bright and dark lights. Themes for compilations usually end up being simple starting points for a general idea that gets lost in translation, so this is definitely a nice way to start things off.

The flip side features Ohio's Teeth Collection, which is the solo project of Matt Reis of various Dayton projects, including the defunct Yes, Collapse and Epicene label. Matt's track is almost an extension of Sorc'henn's piece and sustains a very similar mood. A chronic drone rings out in the background of the track's duration, sorta like the base structure for muted thuds and stomps on the upper layer. It works as a dulcet jam to relax to, but doesn't really flow far from it's core before it abruptly comes to an end.

Drunjus put together this box and take up a side of the next tape in it. Their track consists of a swirling drone that kinda sounds like a warped cassette to some degree. I kept getting the feeling that something was about to happen, but it mostly just stayed on a routine course. Kind of like watching NASCAR on slow motion with no crashes or even an occasional spin out. Even a pit stop to get the tires changed would've been interesting to watch.

Crystal Dragon is a new name to me. They manage to break up the routine a bit by bringing more bright than dark, an exit from the cave we've been in so far, and also not far off from what I thought a project called Crystal Dragon would sound like. Fluttering keyboard boops and drawn out tonality catering to the Last Starfighter fans. Not 8-bit, more dot matrix if that makes any sense. I just noticed that their track is called "Sirens Of Hyperspace" so this is all starting to make sense, but it's not really the kind of sense I can get into.