Its not polite to kick someone when they’re down but sometimes certain things need to be put out there and while Urmerica
isn’t totally explicit in its outright disgust with the current state
of affairs in the US, it certainly intimates a fair level of defeat and
betrayal.
Rebis
Having made hours of eclectically styled recordings in the wake of Bush’s second election win Chris Miller and Jeremy Bushnell have whittled this outpouring down into this six-track audio essay. Subtly documenting their discontent on “Suggestion for a New National Anthem,” they manage to sum up the huge international sigh / ‘how the fuck’ that happened the morning after. Beginning with a single drone that could well be born of the first note of “The Star Spangled Banner” ripped from its moorings leads into a sombre piece which speaks volumes about something lost. The Eno-esque melody of three notes begins to wear away slowly under the static of some messed up Basinski loops wearing out the song’s already defeated vibe into an ending of frayed nerves.
The range of music that Number None touch upon here is a lesson to the majority of the burgeoning noise drone pack and almost as inspiring as the quality of the material. Number None turn their hand to the manipulation of field recordings with “Pacific Metals I” which matches radio transmissions with power hums and dock loading effects creating an atmosphere of intense industrial isolation. “Secret Handshake, Hidden hand”s slithering static insinuations give way to the threatening irradiating percussion of “Compression and Radiation” but it’s the layering of lost whispered secrets on “Dent Magic” that brings “Urmerica” to its peak.
The insomniatic distant vocal line prayer manages to avoid any sentiments of fervency or communion. It just sounds lost. They even manage to resurrect the already zombified Throbbing Gristle with the Carter / Christopherson pulse of final track closer “Monster Lobe (Werewolf Corps Victory Theme).” Number None are pushing forwards and outwards with purpose.
samples:
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