Body/Head – No Waves (Matador Records)
Out now
Review by Ioan Humphreys.
A lot has been said and written about No Wave, Sonic Youth, free
jazz noise, New York Noise, etc., so i won’t labour the point here. Just check
out the various publications and compilations available and you will get a real
feel of what was so special about the art and music New York circa 1976 through
to 1982.
Personally, my life changed around 1989-1990 when on one Sunday,
ITV’s The South Bank Show aired experimental filmmaker Charles Atlas’
documentary of the late 1980s downtown New York City music scene called ‘Put
Blood in the Music’. Featuring early performances by Sonic Youth, John Zorn,
Hugo Largo, Ambitious Lovers, and appearances by Dan Graham, Glenn Branca,
Karen Finley and others, i was completely entranced by all of it. I urge
everyone to see this documentary if only to just get a starting point for a
certain ‘type’ of music to come from New York, and how it would change the face
of alternative music forever. The visuals, the sounds, the noises, the
violence, the art, the free form expression! Everything changed for me that
Sunday night and i will forever be indebted to that documentary for the artists
and bands that introduced me to the possibilities of music outside of what i
already knew and what i thought was set in stone.
Ok, onto Body/Head that is the vehicle of Kim Gordon (ex Sonic
Youth) and Bill Nace. They have been plugging their free form noise
experimentation for a while now and this EP showcases a live recording from the
‘Big Ears Festival’ in Knoxville, Tennessee March 28th 2014.
Across the 3 (ish) tracks, this EP really does reflect the length and breadth
of Gordon and Nace’s noise experimentation and how far they have come as a
physical ‘band’. And again Gordon is no stranger to extracurricular band
activity. Gordon has played with ‘Free Kitten’ (Julia Cafritz (Pussy Galore),
Yoshimi P-We (The Boredoms) and Mark Ibold (Pavement, Sonic Youth)); ‘Harry
Crews’ (Lydia Lunch) and Mirror/Dash (Thurston Moore)) so this is no way a
‘new’ thing.
First track ‘Sugar Water has a slow and steady start that gently
introduces Gordon’s sultry, yet haunting wailing vocals over the sedate guitar
noise. This sedateness crescendos and careens about as the guitar noise fills
the room.
‘The show is over’ again starts off slowly and gently creates a
noisy guitar orchestra of sounds not unlike Glenn Branca’s compositions.
Gordon’s vocals are again haunting and abuse the already aggressive guitar. The
two combine to create a tumultuous aural experience that comes to a
satisfying, yet grateful halt. Quite overwhelming and powerful.
‘Abstract/Actress’ (both from the 2013 ‘Coming Apart’ LP) start
off with an engulfing riff that encapsulates Gordon’s otherworldly vocals, yet
it gets noisier and noisier as the pair completely free form and settle down to
create the most gorgeous guitar noise i have heard for a while. And this noise
just continues to morph and change and coagulate into the second half of this
chaotic, corrosive opus that ends with an inspired harmonica outro and guitar
crescendo that absolutely kills this track! This piece more than the
others shows the capabilities of Body/Head’s as a band and the sonicscapes
and places that this band is capable of taking one to.
Sometimes it’s ok to say a big fat fuck you to the past and apply
one’s self to an uncertain and (often) clumsily orchestrated future. That is
life. But, as long as it means creating works of art that continue to shock and
disturb and upset and create excruciating noise, then i think Body/Head have a
great future. File as essential.
Published on Louder Than War 17/11/16 - here
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