Dissecting Table - The Universe Is Only An Object mp3 download

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Written by: Arvo FingersArtist: Dissecting Table Title: The Universe is Only An ObjectLabel: Danvers State RecordingsCatalog # DSR 30Genre: Industrial NoiseSide A – Second AgitatorSide B - DefeatismDissecting Table is the moniker of Ichiro Tsuji, active since the 80s, and the project has seen a fair amount of changes, from doom laden drum machine marches into Cosmic Death, to sputtering beats and basslines set to harsh noise, and more recently, a part of the catalog I admit I am not familiar with, criticism for doing laptop digital noise, apparently with varying degrees of success. “The Universe Is Only An Object” is a cassette reissued from box set material limited to 5 copies for mailing list fans (recorded in 2010 according to the insert). Originally, it had 2 cassettes, a DVDR, and a CDR, but what we have here is a c42 limited to 100 copies, with full color TV static “Ghost in the Machine” / “Matrix” MTV VHS type of art, and printed labels.Side A, “Second Agitator” is a mesmerizing 20 minute piece that keeps a warm lo fi ambiance and a paradoxically glimmering sheen throughout, especially considering that it seems like there are the pitched down groans of effected metal scrape objects and percussive elements, wrapped up in what seems like careful and considered knob twiddling. While there are certainly elements of repetition involved, it’s remarkable how the mood is kept writhing around in the dungeon, never going too far out of range from dark and murky, but never stagnating to a point where it’s obviously just a handful of loops, and never really utilizing sustained notes. Lots and lots of echo and pitch bending between electronics and metals result in a magnificent if somewhat deranged sci fi soundscape of descending synth waves, slow motion cries for help and the highly animated burping and gurgling of some ogre being drowned in the bottom of a witch’s boiling, smokey cauldron.A contrast of fire brushing across the low end of the spectrum meets rhythmic placement of thudding synth sounds; subdued screaming of both oscillators and what could be one huge gong spun with nails. A wide palette of sounds are used for this side but it never gets into harsh or terribly abrasive territory, for the better, and at times, “Second Agitator” even delves into a similar ethnic territory of a conga line rife with what might call to mind Sleep Chamber , Nocturnal Emissions, or even Deutsch Nepal, only with watery curve balls both methodically sparing and consistently stimulating.Side B, “Defeatism” starts where “Second Agitator” left off, only sped up and more active, and only for about 30 seconds before it kicks into a melange of intermingling synth stabs and swirling layers of calculator mess. In the realm of this current craze of synthesizer drone acts, it is quite refreshing to have someone keep an intensity with 3 to 4 layers of swerving analog dervish. There is a mild reprieve for about 15 seconds of slow pacing about 5 minutes in, before the road of chaotic acid shrapnel is traversed once again. The swelling and shifting of the synth lines makes the author wonder just how many synthesizers this dude has, but one might know better before assuming that Mr. Tsuji can’t push the limits of a minimal set up in this dazzling way. Attention to the high end is particularly notable, where bass is clearly practical and represented but it is altogether too easy to neglect a single octave. I’m reminded of the less harsh and more “psychedelic” work of Government Alpha, and also of a lot of the wildly active synth/tape work of a lot of industrial noise artists of the 80s; Controlled Bleeding definitely being one of them, I dare say the amazing and legendary Mnemonists being another.Throughout the almost 20 minutes of Side B, it seems like there are constantly new creatures being introduced into a sonic habitat at a surprisingly wide panning range for a cassette, and while I admit there are a lot of speedy blips and bloops, very tricky to do well, they are always coming out of the speakers as if there is a kink in the machine, jangled and carved out of rusty fan blades. The very end is an abrupt but characteristically true one; just as we are sent on a kamikaze mission through space with parts of our shuttle falling off through the atmosphere and into the ether, debris that will inevitably pulverize some small child in rural Brazil, so too, do we inevitably unravel and crash into the sun.I highly recommend this release. I will say though, that I’m left wondering what else from that box set is around, and how to complete the listening experience in the context of a fully realized piece of work. If this is what was to be salvaged, I’m incredibly curious what else is on the cutting room floor. “Universe” illuminates one of the glories of noise music, in that these recordings could still function as source material as well as finished products, and even the discarded part of the box set seems painfully interesting and annoyingly out of reach, I would not mind hearing what else was produced in this mind state, even if it were more stripped down and less enthusiastic. The tapes seem to be dubbed in a daisy chain set up, and I suspect that even more of this still bulky dynamic range has been stripped out than would have come from another arrangement. In this case though, what doesn’t kill it, makes it stronger, which is good, the resulting output is both myopic and all-encompassingly visionary, because thanks to the good people of the Chicago post office, my copy came smashed to hell. And this is not a dig at the label, there’s not much that could be done to protect a norelco case from the violence that seemed to have been visited upon my tape, up to and including shards breaking and tearing the insert. It’s an excellent tape, but if the universe is indeed, only an object, like some little glowing blue orb that sits snugly around the collar of an obnoxious dog in some He Man episode, WE ALL WOULD BE TRULY FUCKED.Rating: 5/5