The Squid's Ear
Writing about improvised, contemporary, experimental and unusual music,
following the activities of Squidco...
  •  •  •     Join Our Mailing List!



The Squid's Ear




Heard In

Reviews of artist releases:
cd's, books, magazines, &c.


  Thurston Moore 
  Sensitive/Lethal
  (No Fun Productions) 


  
   review by Jeph Jerman
  2009-04-16
Thurston Moore: Sensitive/Lethal (No Fun Productions)

While Moore's previous solo albums have both been song-oriented, this one is an all-out noise affair. The first piece, "Sensitive", comes on like a compressed history of guitar as noise-maker, from echoes of Hendrix wail and Velvet's primitive rhythmic pound (in a not always audible acoustic guitar underneath), to intimations of Arto, Rudolph Grey and the current crop of string-manglers, all piled on top of each other and smeared with a greasy hand.

The second, shorter piece "Whisper", has been described by others as softer or quieter, but it's simply less dense than the opener, with a looping whine and over-amped squeaking swing-set overlaid with car horns, or maybe they're chords. It serves as an introduction to the final assault. "Lethal" zeroes in on single "chords" that become distorted beyond recognition as they fade, accompanied by a shrill whistling that I took at first to be some aberration of my hearing. Continuing with start/stop blasts and layers of electronic noises. You might not think these were guitars if you didn't know it already (and perhaps they're not?) Howling metal is a phrase that leaps to mind. This last piece is more varied than the first two, episodic even, with events arranged sequentially rather than layered simultaneously.

Hearing this disc, I was reminded of friends who are unaccustomed to "noise-music", and how they will, upon hearing some, comment about what kind of film the sounds might accompany. The tracks of Sensitive/Lethal would no doubt fit perfectly with some Hollywood nightmare epic.





Comments and Feedback:



More Recent Reviews, Articles, and Interviews @ The Squid's Ear...


The Squid's Ear presents
reviews about releases
sold at Squidco.com
written by
independent writers.

Squidco

Recent Selections @ Squidco:


Bobby Bradford/
Mark Dresser/
Hafez Modirzadeh:
Sonic House Reunion
(NoBusiness)



Marion Brown (
Brown/
Hampel/
Phillips/
McCall):
Live in Europe
1968 & 1972
(NoBusiness)



John Zorn (
w/ Julian Lage/
Gavin Riley):
Seven Sonnets
(Tzadik)



[ahmed] (
Thomas/
Grip/
Gerbal/
Wright):
Play Monk
[2 CDs]
(Otoroku)



Michael Formanek (
w/ Hawkins/
Halvorson/
Fujiwara/
O'Gallagher/
Doxas/
Almeida):
New Digs
(Intakt)



Sylvia Lim:
Flare
(Another Timbre)



Ava Mendoza:
Alive Alone,
Alive Together
(Burning Ambulance Music)



John Cage (
Wegmann/
Debacker):
Two2 (
1989) for 2 Pianos
(ezz-thetics by
Hat Hut Records
Ltd)



Myra Melford/
Satoko Fujii:
Katarahi
(RogueArt)



Matthias Muche Bonecrusher:
Densities -
for 12 trombones
& percussion
(ezz-thetics by
Hat Hut Records
Ltd)



Columbia Icefield (
Wooley/
Alcorn/
Mendoza/
Sawyer):
A Silence Opens
(Out Of Your Head Records)



Marta Warelis (
w/ LaMar Gay/
Baars/
Ng/
Haker Flaten/
Rosaly):
Still Life
with Lemons
(Relative Pitch)



Klaus Lang/
Apartment House:
Geschrieben In Wasser
(Another Timbre)



Machinefabriek:
Samen
(Machinefabriek)



Ivo Perelman/
Damon Smith:
Duologue:
Core of Existence
(Squid Note Records)



Marty Ehrlich:
Cartographies of Flight:
Lines Set Afloat
Towards Hope
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)



Mike Westbrook Orchestra:
The Cortege
Live At The BBC
1980
[2CDs]
(Cadillac Records)



JOSILEMI (
featuring Joe Fonda/
Silke Eberhard/
Emil Gross):
Hear This
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Centrifugal Quartet (
feat Mia Dyberg/
Antonio Borgini/
Michael Griener/
Antonio Borghini):
Industry
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Lazro/
Leandre/
Lovens:
For Baritone Sax, Double Bass and Drumset
(Relative Pitch)







Squidco
Click here to
advertise with
The Squid's Ear






The Squid's Ear pays its writers.
Interested in becoming a reviewer?




The Squid's Ear is the companion magazine to the online music shop Squidco !


  Copyright © Squidco. All rights reserved. Trademarks. (11226)