Empty Shell
(Chocolate Monk - choc.443) CDR $6.25
This set of crud-fi experiments by Maureen Hollomas (Polly Shang Kuan Band, Jettatura, Structure, etc.) demonstrates the existence of remote viewing, a hitherto non-validated human capacity. “On first listen,” says a ChocoMo spokesgonk, “it was a feeling of a snake crawling out of something. A real vivid feeling, but on a second listen it was a cat’s tail. Go figure.” Numbered edition of 50
You Are Not Alone
(Adhuman) CD $15.00
Even within an already microscopic community of oddballs resident among Brighton’s experimental art and music underground, Teignmouth Electron has continually stood way out on its own through deceptively crafted, conceptually guided works drenched in fun, bizarre and often profound sentimental atmosphere. With You Are Not Alone, Maureen Hallomas — otherwise known for involvement in projects like Polly Shang Kuan Band, Rubber Demon, Leopard Leg, Men Oh Pause and more — takes us back in time via two archival pieces derived from tape recordings predating the official existence of the project. Material from a cassette made in 2001 is presented here as “From Beyond the Attic,” a pair of tracks in which a single possessed tape walkman acts as conduit for a symphony of broken electromagnetic noise and interference. Punctuating the murk are snatches of barely discernible radio broadcasts and, shockingly, nearby phone conversations somehow picked up and voyeuristically captured on the tape unbeknownst to the callers. Where these tracks are presented largely unedited and unadorned, “Science TAC” sees a more compositional strategy put to work, with Hallomas pulling apart, processing and rearranging a 1999 recording of herself and a friend improvising surreal skits and zero-competence musical performance.