John Peel’s adage “always different, always the same” is well past the “oft-quoted” phrase stage, but it remains a good starting point for any artist with a track record of consistent, imaginative sound. Although uttered in reference to the late DJ’s beloved faves The Fall, it seems to be particularly fitting when discussing many of the hyper-producing and collaborative noisicians working today, and it is certainly apropos when confronting the work of Jason Lescalleet. The master tape looper continues to do what he does with the announcement of two new recordings on his Glistening Examples imprint today.
First up is the Canuck collaboration between sound and visual artists Mathieu Ruhlmann and Chris Strickland entitled This Heap is Greater Light. Using a variety of recording techniques, Ruhlmann and Stickland capture a multitude of found sounds to create pieces that run the gamut between sparse and confined spaces, jarring listeners with odd tape-overs and tempo switches throughout their pieces.
The second release comes courtesy of the label boss himself and is a reissue of his solo, out-of-print player To The Teeth. Originally released on Celebrate Psi Phenomenon in 2005, To The Teeth is a different beast from Lescalleet’s successive sound manipulations, both in solo mode and with a bevvy of collaborators (Aaron Dilloway, Graham Lambkin, Kevin Drumm, to name but three of a great many). To The Teeth shows Lescalleet at his most primal and confident, as he establishes what was his trademark at the time: dense, harsh drones. But, needless to say, it is as similarly arresting as the rest of his oeuvre. Again, always different…
Hypnotic and disturbing and beautiful as always, these two Glistening Examples releases will make the hairs on your arms stand on edge. Hairless, you say? Well then prepare to grow some deep follicles. Both recordings are available NOW, so run those fingers, don’t walk them. Both can also be Bandcamp’d here and here.
This Heap is Greater Light tracklist:
01. Synovial Folds
02. Tahe Civic Minimum
03. Fade the Species
04. The Sun Tutoyers Me!
To The Teeth tracklist:
01. Reception
02. Light Shines Through Perforations as I Stretch the Fabric
03. Rejection