BLOODYMINDED "PHASES : THREE" 3x7" box set
An odd art-object from the Chicago power electronics outfit Bloodyminded, Phases Three
is a sturdy black box that holds three extremely short 7" records which
contain live recordings and processed recordings from the band that
were culled from a 2006 basement performance in Saint Louis, Missouri,
accompanied by a double sided insert sheet that contains liner notes,
and a hand-numbered card. According to the band, this was assembled to
capture the shock-assault experience of witnessing Bloodyminded live,
which I can certainly buy; the live tracks are as punishing as harsh
electronics get, frequently hitting extreme frequencies that drill right
through my nerve centers. The audio presentatiopn borders on the
spartan, though; each of the three 7"s (which are nicely housed in
silk-screened inner sleeves and are pressed on white vinyl) only has
about two minutes of music on each side, on average, with the whole set
clocking in at just shy of twelve minutes. So, ok, I wouldn't recommend
this box set to someone who might just be beginning to investigate
Bloodyminded's brand of brute electronics (for you folks, I'd recommend
their stunningly violent 2006 album Magnetism) but for hardcore fans, this is
pretty cool. The first a-side and the final b-side of the set each
feature tracks that were created using live recordings as source
material; "Phases : Three (Part One)" opens it up with a savage short
outpouring of brutally strangled feedback, maniacal howls, and deep bass
belch and squealing feedback vomit, and "Phases : Three (Part Two)"
ends with unintelligible screams and ranting in a morass of murky
feedback attacks that finally erupts into a squall of malfunctioning
amplifier overload and bass ejaculate. In between 'em, you get the live
tracks, which includes "Girlfriend Attempts To Explain Schizophrenic
Episode By Revealing Childhood Sexual Abuse", a queasy orgy of crazed
screaming and roiling high-pitched feedback, total caveman electro-blunt
violence; the brain-drilling feedback assaults of "Shotgun Held To Face
By Severely Crosseyed Addict While Attempting To Physically Remove
Girlfriend From Known Drug House" and "Visiting An Ex-Girlfriend In The
Hospital - Psychiatric Ward - 24-Hour Observation - Suicide Watch"; and
the pall of doom that sets in among the air raid sirens, gasping horror
and vicious fluctuating feedback waves on "Visiting An Ex-Girlfriend In
The Hospital - Aids Ward".
Man, nobody can title a song like Bloodyminded.
Released in an edition of three hundred copies, this collection is raw
synthesizer agony and destructive power electronics of the harshest
order, certainly not for timid ears
© CRUCIAL BLAST
