V. - "stYe"
(Public Eyesore 2002, #48)
V. - "stYe"
(Public Eyesore 2002, #48)
From Aural Innovations #23 (April 2003)
V. is the Omaha, Nebraska based duo of James Guggino on drums and noise and Jeff Surak on homemades, hurdy gurdy and noise, with guest Carl Merson contributing bass and guitar on some tracks. The music covers a range of sound art and noise constructions. We hear droning waves alongside guitar and bass lines against Guggino's drumming; minimal pulsating and whining radio wave electronic patterns; dark and somewhat trippy atmospherics; free-improv noise and percussion workouts that employ interesting string scratching techniques; engine room industrial patterns, and oodles of UFO efx. Lots of good ideas here though it didn't consistently hold my attention. My favorite track is the very cool 17 minute avant cosmic space excursion with Rock & Jazz elements provided by Guggino's drumming. It's loaded with drifting electronic textures and dissonant space guitar. But along with the drumming it makes for a very interesting blend of hed music and free-improv, with some decent guitar and percussion work alongside continually shifting electronic patterns and alien efx. Overall I'd say it's the drumming and heavy duty alien trips that accounted for the highlight moments of this set.
For more information you can visit the Public Eyesore web site at:
http://www.sinkhole.net/pehome.
Contact via snail mail c/o Bryan Day; 3301 Dewey St. Apt. #8; Omaha, NE 68105.
For more information on V. you can visit http://www.zeromoon.com.
Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz