xdementiaPost subject: Kevin Shields – The Death of Patience CD
Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 8:05 amKevin Shields – The Death of Patience CD
Deathbomd Arc Records: http://deathbombarc.com
Audio: Nothings Never Ending Excerpt
Overall Rating: B
Composition: B
Sounds: B
Production Quality: B-
Concept: B-
Packaging: B-
Here is the first full-length effort from the seemingly always touring Kevin Shields. KS creates harsh noise with some experimental aspects using found and home made objects to create her sounds. I've had the opportunity to see her perform live several times and it is always an engaging experience. Presented here is roughly 40 minutes of varied noisy textures and experimental meanderings that provide a welcome break from the sometimes monotonous noise walls.
The opener “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished” has a tricky start presented a few cute toy-piano chords before breaking into a full-on wall of harsh spastic noise. Even though it appears that most of this material was recorded live it has a consistent quality that really fits together well as a whole “album.” No Good Deed Goes Unpunished is the most straightforward noise track here with a subtly undulating wall of noise sometimes breaking into some standard high-pitched feedback. It has a little bit of a lo-fi quality, mainly in the recording production so the frequency range tends to reach a stasis in the low to upper mid range, rarely reaching rumbling lows or searing highs, which holds the noise back a bit. But there are enough layers and things going on to keep me interested and it seems Kevin Shields is always fussing about with her gear, trying new things and creating passages that provide plenty of movement.
“Nothing's Never Ending” continues the crackly mid-range wall of distortion but pushes the elements even further finally providing us a moments peace with some experimental drum machine fuckery and shining, feedbacking chords that work very well to produce the blurry sort of vision depicted in the artwork. It's not too wanky and serves a purpose here of breaking the noise up a bit and laying down a little atmosphere. It's moments like these that makes the noise rise above what could be pure generic underpinnings.
“Apparently” is another all-out harsh noise extravaganza this time introducing yet more takes on the KS sound and using some effective humming feedback and what sounds like some squiggly tape manipulation about ¾ of the way through. This leads into “Catholic Guilt” which opens with a glitchy experimental broken machine singing loudly and eventually becoming drowned in another sea of messy distortion. The sounds in Catholic Guilt are a bit more screechy and sound like there may have been more sheet metal or something involved here.
The last track “Bless You” features clicking contact mic manipulation – nothing new here – with some sleight delay for about the first ¼ of the piece before breaking into chunky, tongue-in-cheek harsh attack. The piece is more often broken up with some effective high-end feedback with a shiny edge and later some bell-like tones coming in and adding just the right experimental atmosphere to finalize the album.
Kevin Shields has created a solid experimental noise album here with varied improvisations that fit together very well as a full-length. There is harsh noise aplenty here with varied other sources and a good amount of inspiration providing some off-beat ideas for concepts. I think KS could really up the ante in the future and look forward to what she might be up to next.
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