Diastolic Murmurs / Furt – Hospital of the Soul – 2019 – CD & bonus CDr– Psych.KG 501- London version.
https://limitierte-schallplatten-1.jimdosite.com/
https://richardcrow.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Diastolic-Murmurs/536614813142247
https://www.discogs.com/Diastolic-Murmurs-Furt-Hospital-Of-The-Soul-1/release/13985561
https://furtlogic.bandcamp.com/
I am often happy to oblige
when artists get in touch with me offering releases for review on here. One
such artist, Richard Crow emailed me, so - we got chatting about his work. The
conversation was going nicely until he mentioned words that strike fear into my
reviewing soul – “I have a release out on the PSYCH KG label.” If you think you
like Experimental sounds, listen to some of their releases and you will then know
for sure how experimental you are – the link to their site is above; go there, I
dare you. Psych KG releases tend to be as difficult and challenging as the word
experimental gets. As a reviewer this is the third time I am going there - I
never forget each Psych KG review day - ever. My first two cassettes by the
label were passed on to me via another review blog that found them too difficult
to review.
Hospital of the Soul documents
a live performance on 14th February 1993 at the London Film Maker’s C0-OP,
it was originally released on a boxed cassette around that time. This has been transferred
from the original DAT master and remastered. Diastolic Murmurs are Adam Bohman
and Richard Crow. Furt are Richard Barrett and Paul Obermayer.
The performance slowly creaks
to life, it functions with communications between small sounds. It has a
haunted, explorative feel as it plays out, it feels older than its 28 years –
Crow’s Monomania had this too. There are pauses as drills take over the sound
as if it is repairing or remaking itself for the next movement. The drill seems
to speak its own language in conversation with other noises that arrive. I believe
there was heavy use of contact microphones throughout the performance.
Hauntology was a term that
cropped up in Wire magazine a few years ago: this is as haunted as noise can
get. As the sound rises and urgent clangs and drones burst through the
quietness it feels like the moment in any psychological thriller that makes the
viewer jump after a long build-up. The visuals and texts add further mystery to
the recording. There is additional text by Tape archivist Mors Mia and some
info from Furt that was handed out on the night with some visuals from the
performance. The packaging celebrates the night with consideration and generosity,
I would like to have seen this. What were the other acts like, were they as
strong as this?
The bonus cdr is Diastolic Murmurs on their own, it is called ‘Irrigation of the Bladder’ and it is an incredibly challenging listen. Compared to the live document Irrigation of the Bladder it strays into challenging medical soundscapes that make the live performance seem like easy listening – it has an impressive ‘infected quality as it progresses.
The sound of Hospital of the
Soul is a strong display creepy atmospherics; it is incredibly dark with an ability to time travel within
itself. Both artists stretch back to the 1980s making this a conceptually solid
recording that displays experience, maturity and precision. All the work on both CDs really stands on the
far edges of experimentation. Hospital of the Soul is a unique recording that
is truly challenging, even by Psych KG standards.
Army of One 2021.
No comments:
Post a Comment