Comicide - Moral Improvement.

Comicide – Moral Improvement (Live 1984 CE) – Cassette/download – Self Released  - 2019.

Track list.

A - Star Club, Birmingham.

     1.    Bloodmeat.

     2.    Bruised Organon

     3.    Muscular Jesus

     4.    Hatehouse

B - Eve Hill, Afro Hill Caribbean Centre, Dudley.

     1.    Bloodmeat.

     2.    Bruised Organon.

     3.    Muscular Jesus.

     4.    Hatehouse.

Comicide was an early Stephen Ah Burroughs industrial/PE project, later projects were Head of David, FRAG and Tunnels of Ah. There were two members, the other being Erik Jurenovskis, who was also a member of Head of David. This set of two live recordings were both played supporting Con-Dom in different venues in the West Midlands in 1984. The instrumentation used was vocals, manipulated synth and guitar.

The Birmingham performance doesn’t have vocals, it’s all instrumental. The synths add a suspenseful, anxiety to the work, the riffing gives a uniqueness and seems to melt into the synth work due to its repetitiveness, becoming noise in the process. The intuition of the guitarwork seems to convey emotion and add a layer of complexity to the work. Part of me sees this recording as Lynch like, it wouldn’t be out of place in Eraserhead or any of his other early works. In other parts, I feel it could fit in the Bladeruner, due to the futuristic synths - there was something cinematic about Comicide’s work.. The synths do become punishing and massive at times, this is where the Power Electronics aspect of the recording is.

The Dudley gig is edgier, there is more of an Industrial urgency to the work and the addition of shouting vocals is an added layer of intensity to the works and adds a further Power Electronics dimension to things. This is evident as there seems to be more volume at work to the point where it distorts and warbles things more. There’s some choppy noise communication going on, ticks and twangs create hallucinatory atmospheres, the esoteric aspects of future works, particularly Tunnels of Ah is demonstrated in its infancy here. The vocals distort and become noise as if in another dimension. The guitar work is even stronger here, as if more intuitive to what’s going on with the resonating synths.

This is a good, interesting document of the times and what was happening on the Noise live circuit back then and it can be complimented by the Con-Dom tapes of live recordings from that time. This can be bought at: https://tunnelsofh.bandcamp.com/album/comicide-moral-improvement-live-1984ce

Choppy Noodles 2019.

FRAG - Controlled Coma.

FRAG – Controlled Coma – Cassette – Cruel Nature Records – CN107 – 2018

https://tunnelsofh.bandcamp.com/album/controlled-coma

As my interest in FRAG was caught when Āh Burroughs contacted me via the blogs secret, well-hidden underground messaging system and I heard Disease Vector, I was immediately taken by their sound. I believe that Controlled Coma is the earlier 1994 FRAG recordings.

The sound on controlled coma is immediately bigger and more aggressive in its repetition pulling the attention through sudden shifts in that repetition, which jolts the listener back to the original sound throughout tracks. It’s different again and Disease Vector is a progression on this through stripping back. Sometimes it is the background noises that tease and command attention as the foreground sounds remain stuck in their own grove. The work is relentlessly nightmarish using drones, churning synths and rumbling noise that meditates and focusses upon itself. It is like the raw beginnings of FRAG, there are traces and traits of what would later come on Disease Vector, but this is the nastier older brother to that album. This is all good, it still doesn’t sound like anything else that I have heard - strong, mature work, great album and I recommend it.

Choppy Noodles 2019.

FRAG Disease Vector.

FRAG – Disease Vector – self Released – CDR & Download – 2019.

https://tunnelsofh.bandcamp.com/album/disease-vector

Frag is a project by Tunnels of Āh creator Stephen Burroughs, it was originally conceived in the early 90s and after a rocky start it was intended to be kept as a secret, unreleased project. Some old material was recently released, FRAG kicked back into action and Disease Vector is the first new FRAG material in 25 years.

I like this, it sounds fresh immediately, through its minimalism and failure or refusal to adhere to today’s common noise sounds and methods. By use of farty, vibrating sounds the work really gets focussed on its own repetition through swirling loops of the same sound for long periods of time. Sometimes elements are juxtaposed sometimes they aren’t just one will just play off itself: this focus on repetition continues as the overall sound gets more layered as the album progresses. Some of the blunt less treated tonal frequencies that underlie the work are strong. As Distortion comes in on Neural Progenitor Cell onwards, the mixing gets clever and seems keep it broken up and fractured enough so the work doesn’t lose its identity and become cliched. Despite the growth in the amount of sounds used, the minimal aspect of the work is maintained, it also has a cold playfulness to it. The work does have a lot of twinges of older Power Electronics stylings as it progresses, it has no concern for the bigger/fuller sound at all and this is refreshing. It also gets very detailed and focussed within itself.

I enjoyed Disease Vector, its stance is refreshing and makes it a standout project. I do like Cold-Minimal work and this is a solid example of that. I will investigate Stephen Burroughs other work further - Welcome back FRAG.

Choppy Noodles 2019.