Are guitarists Lee Cummings & Murray Johnston “asking for it”? The CD’s title could certainlt give many a reviewer a field day, but I’ll not stoop to poop at such stinky ‘n’ pongy silt layered depths…about 3 or 4 inches once those sluice gates have been opened. This album “is the culmination of a years worth of recordings” (what, full time? Part time? One day a week? One day a month? Eh?) and, says here in the polite promo blurb, is the bands “most varied and challenging work to date”. Further, it sees them “pushing the Opaque sound into new, extreme sonic territories”. Well, yeah…hmmm…look, understand that I’ve been a hard-cock’s-on-fire Whitehouse fan for the past 22 years now and, without going on & on & On & on & on & on I HAVE heard all thee other stuff as well, Ramleh, Maurizio Bianchi, Throbbing Gristle, Merzbow, CCCC, The Gerogerigegege, the Susan Lawly and Tabula Rasa label releases, etc, etc, etc, etc. “Extreme” is such a fucking over-used word in this, ultimately bland and vacuous age we are prey god, prey any fucker, hopefully just passing through. I see “extreme” applied to so much utter sensationalist shite these days – extreme police chases, extreme sports, extreme sunny weekend breaks in Cliftonville, extreme cooking up some turd-that-passes-for-food in the kitchen, extreme Teletubbies, extreme pottering around the garden shed with grandpa and his arthritis & so on & so forth. Point made, I’m sure you will agree.
Ok, so it’s ltd to 520 copies (why not 510 or 530?) and comes in a “unique cardboard gatefold sleeve”…ooohhh!! Well, this “unique” sleeve ain’t gonna win any prizes at the next Cardboard Engineering Enthusiasts annual awards but, if Opaque say it’s special then I’ll just have to take their word for it. Looks much the same as any other cardboard CD slipcase to moi…except for the red felt inlay. Great. Can you still buy Fuzzy Felt by the way? I used to love that. Still do.
A run through of the annoyingly pain-in-thee-arse-to-read 12 track titles has us teetering on the edge of our MFI swivelling office reviewing chairs (pale grey with cobolt blue upholstery) pumped to the highest setting. “Edgar blows up”, “My hosts must have wondered why they’d asked for an expert and been sent this hooligan instead” and “Hospitalised your dad with an iron bar”…So, wha’d ya make of it all? I suppose actually playing the CD might help. Yes, that’s a good idea, I think I’ll try the “playing it” approach this time, you know, get into some “extreme reviewing”…tis a whole noo concept and it is being pioneered right here and now before your very eyes in Snipper Glug, ya lucky cants!!
I had a funny feeling this would start off with a high pitched electro-static buzz. Aldrin. An intense, painful and overwhelming power electronic guitar duet balanced out with introspective razor sharp hypno-ambient drones that, at times, have a filmic quality. It’s good to see guitars still being used instead of this genre’s traditional synths and, in recent years, uncomfortable looking laptops although, in essence, it doesn’t actually matter how the sounds are produced, it’s the end results that count…I’ve just got a “thing” about guitars in the same way I have a penchant for vinyl and “hard copy” porn mags instead of computer-based monitor wank. There’s oriental chic pluckings, distorted shuddering almost-dance beats that are so much like some of Esplendor Geometrico’s output you could be forgiven for confusing the two, and micro high-end bottleneck pickings as if a pair of spotty teens had just been given Argos guitars for xmas. This, at first listen, doesn’t give the impression of being good, especially as, by this far into the CD, we know Lee & Murray are much more capable than to put out mere novice material and, just to prove my point, this particular track (number 9) “The squalor and intimacy of a man in a suitcase” does eventually evolve into a creditable, atmospheric and mature piece of experimentation…I don’t mind having to admit to eating my words after (track 10) “3 hours of torment at the grubby paws” of Opaque, a long, drawn-out floppy strung bass chugs along almost imperceptably closer & closer until the whole structure starts to twist & warp under it’s own weight…this is sonic sculpturing at a craftsmanlike level of proficiency, a hand thrown, lathe turned Tanguyesque (eh? what?) conception of sound.
Without splitting hairs & notwithstanding the use of the “E” word, I take back my previous misgivings, for this CD certainly does live up to the promise hinted at on the promo sheet. If only Opaque had got themselves a slot at the Hinoeuma “noise” festival last november because, along with the outstanding Merzbow performance, they could have blown the rest of the other artists away. A kind of avant/experimental/industrial “Never mind the bollocks…” sentiment so-to-speak, if you will, and all that.
Gary Simmons 22nd December 2003
Contacts:
Opaque, Flat 2/1, 7 Kennoway Drive, Glasgow G11 7UA, UK
Or
http://opaque.8m.com
Or
E:j.l.cummings@amserve.net
Or
www.consume.freeserve.co.uk
Or
E:the.consumer@ntlworld.com
Or…oh, that’s it. Thank fuck for that then.