HUDSON RIVER BLUES / BLACK HEAT / FIRE OF NIGHTS / SNAKE CHARMER / STREET SMOKIN' EYES / LUNAR STOMP / MANHATTAN TONGUES / DO THE SLIDE / ONU BA
48:06
The nine track high energy debut album of Fadensonnen - presented in sub-Faust Tape bootleg glory. Destructo-improv-rock action to re-sensify the nervous system.
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DIGITAL ALBUM DOWNLOAD or DIGIPAK EDITION CD - EDITION OF 150 - AVAILABLE ON OUR BANDCAMP
WHITE NIGHT REVIEWS
Ah, yet another newie to sparkle my senses this week, the latest platter
from PD Fadensonnen and his partner in sound RD. On this go 'round the
duo make even more of an atonal blur of raucous spew than they have the
previous five or so releases, trying to do their best to make the most
hard-nailed sounds (viz a viz Chrome filtered through Les Rallizes
Denudes' amplifiers) utilizing everything from anvil and snake phase
shifter guitars and tape manipulations to stylophones, and rather than
coming off like typical ten year olds jerkin' 'round with Big Brothers'
stereo equipment this does take off on a rather feral bent. If you are
one who is searching for the missing link between WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT (or side two of FUNHOUSE) and METAL MACHINE MUSIC, you may have found it right here!!
Personal faves are "Lunar Stomp" and "Manhattan Tongues" (yours may
differ), but "Snake Charmer": does have a certain appeal like one of
those Can Ethnic Musical Forgeries. Whatever your likes, this is one
that wouldn't look or sound too outta place in your industrial/avant
music collection where it and the entire Fadensonnen catalog belong,
natch!
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Even some of the most open advocates of the Stooges' seminal 1970 album Fun House couldn't
stand its final song "L.A. Blues" for its unsettling formlessness and
perhaps inability to provide a climactic rock anthem closing. Hearing
Fadensonnen's White Night makes the thought of their seething
even stronger, for the album is essentially that same abrasion spread
across 48 minutes and even less intelligible than the Stooges' sprawling
noisemonger tendencies.
On their debut, the New York duo explore free-rock obfuscation, rife
with grooves awash in marbleized amplification. Though Fadensonnen
haven't the slightest air of black metal in them, a comparison to Wold
wouldn't be too far of a stretch: amidst the sonic blur-- all percussion
muffled and the definition of other instruments abstracted-- a
curiosity of what lies beneath prevails. The liner notes dispel that
mystery, though, listing stylophone, toy saxophone, slide whistle, and
tape manipulation among others, but whether they're discernible is
another discussion in itself.
White Night has potential to be the wildest psych-rock
discombobulation of the year, filtering rock bombast through the
abstruse flavors of musique concrete, free jazz, and noise. Muscular,
flange-doused chords emerge from the opening of "Black Heat" just
seconds before cymbal clatter and wah noodling consume them whole.
Fadensonnen are keen on disorienting listeners, but they employ more
than barrage tactics: they provide a defined (albeit confounding)
progression for the following "Fire Of Nights", for upon reaching an
apogee of damaged guitar swathed in screams, it dissolves into an
understated drone, accumulating reversed clangor and sweeping back into
chaos. Among the most schematically piquant is "Do The Slide", lost in
the elaborate cognition of assorted percussion and electric tampering.
It's not difficult to find that Fadensonnen have a method to their
madness, but chances are that only they themselves get it.
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I’ve never understood why the word “busy” carries with it a negative
connotation. I’ve had my drumming called “busy,” so perhaps that’s a
personal quirk of mine, but when it comes to describing a band’s
attributes, why isn’t “busy” considered a compliment? Would folks rather
hear something “lazy,” “laid back” and/or “ill considered”?
Shit, I
HOPE NOT.
And so it is:
Fadensonnen
are a “busy” band, but in the best sense of the word. It’s as if a
metric ton of high-hat swipes, guitar squiggles and candy-cane effects
swirls have been poured into a funnel, then pumped out as high-energy
BB’s in humble, bite-sized form.
Or at least that’s how the first few tracks, “Hudson River Blues” and
“Black Heat,” pan out. Trudge on, however, and you’ll find yourself
trapped in a withering blizzard of noise snow, white-hot and blinding as
battery acid poured on the ol’ peepers. Eventually the pattern turns
back to the frenzied onslaught described in the previous paragraph, and
in no way is that a discouraging development. If I were to nit-pick, I
suppose I’d request a bit more variation once the all-out squall hits;
nothing major, just a few more nudges this way or that to pinch me out
of the improv dream I keep drifting into while the assembly line is
running.
“Lunar Stomp” comes close to offering a more herk-jerk premise with
its brutal bumper-car bounce, and the possibilities revealed by
15-minutes-plus closer “Onu Ba” shine smilingly upon future variety;
still, at time the scrum becomes so intense the brighter colors mash
into brown purely by dint of sonic aggression. Which is, actually,
pretty fuckin’ cool if you think about it but perhaps not the best way
to make the inner ear tingle and/or exhibit the credentials of the
players (if you must know: shit, all I got is they’re attached to
Black To Comm in some way, and one of them is in
King Crab).
Then again, it was likely their distinct intention to do exactly what
they did, which is marry the improv instrumentation of bands like
Matta Gawa, Talibam! (both also duos),
Toy Killers and
Notekillers with hard-psyche and the all-out brain-kill of the loudest noiseniks/noisekings/noisads like
The New Blockaders and
John Wiese.
They’re extremely successful, almost painfully so, which leaves the
question: Where do we go from here? Have Fadensonnen backed themselves
into a corner with the extreme teeth-gnashing of
White Night?
I’m sure they’ll be fine.
Is it a surprise that
Weasel Walter
mastered this session for CD? Oh FUG-EXPLODE no; his fingerprints rest
all over this recording, particularly in the way the sonic cavalcade
collides against itself while retaining its distinct pieces throughout. I
mentioned earlier that the instruments occasionally “mash” together and
I figured I should clarify that: Often within
White Night I find that the only thing
mitigating
the madness driving beneath the torrential muck is the crystal-clear —
yet satisfyingly damaged — production. If it weren’t for a skilled hand
separating the pinks from the yellows, blues and reds you’d end up with a
smudge of skronky shit (though I’d still probably dig it).
Recognize.
Permalink:
http://gumshoegrove.com/2012/06/27/fadensonnen-white-night-lp-self-released-album-as-art-205/
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Via the long running website of tastemaker Jon Worley at
Aiding & Abetting:
FadensonnenWhite Night(Fadensonnen Records)
A certain PD and RD are responsible for the chaos of this album. You
should be on your knees. In chains, preferably. This is music of utter
bondage. Once you enter the album, you will be defenseless against its
charms.
Charms, of course, is a relative term. The distorted riffage and
generally deconstructed lines of the songs (a loose term, to be sure)
are aggressive and mean. The sound is abrasive and harsh. The effect is
impossibly liberating.
So you get it or you don't. These are songs, not just tone poems, and
they do say something. They probably aren't the future of rock and roll
(though I wouldn't rule it out), but they're goddamned thrilling. Chaos
abounds and life flows.
And not inconsiderable brilliance. Absolutely lovely fare, if you
construe lovely the way I do. Fadensonnen is mean, rude and avaricious.
Totally lovely.
Permalink:
http://www.aidabet.com/issues/340/340reviews.html#FADENSONNEN
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Via Roctober Fanzine:
If you are a
paranoid schizophrenic obsessed with human slaughter and small animal torture,
and you’ve suffered multiple concussions and an inner ear injury, then you’ve
already heard this record. In your head.
Permalink:
http://roctoberreviews.blogspot.com/2012/12/fadensonnen-white-night.html
