kevin drumm

Necro Acoustic

*5CD boxed set including five albums - Lights Out, Malaise, Decrepit, No Edit and Organ, each with an individual CD wallet and housed inside a gold-embossed box with a 24 page booklet* The soundworld of avant-garde laptop guitarist Kevin Drumm is a beguiling, isolated and often harrowing place to visit. His catalogue of releases for labels like Hospital Productions and Mego have singled him out as an elemental force within the parameters of drone, noise and darkest ambient. Drumm's Norwegian peer Lasse Marhaug has compiled this vital 5CD boxset for his own Pica Disk label, surveying a range of work ranging from recently discovered recordings dating to 1996, to a new album of necro acoustic material made between 2006-2008, The four tracks of 'Lights Out' are exclusive to this set. Using pulse generators, filters, feedback and some computer processing, we're placed in the eye of tornado with 'Spraying The Weeds' and subjected to near-infrasonic levels of subbass in 'Blistering Statick', but these just prepare the ground for the 18-minute 'Idle Worship' where Drumm controls a dense wave of stoically charged tones; insectoid highs like an army of cicadas singing a dirge, and quivering subbass drones liable to slowly dislodge the plaster on your ceiling. Much like his seminal 'Imperial Distortions' set, this is not recommended to those of a claustrophobic nature. 'Malaise' is a more recent effort, licensed from an original 2 x c30 cassette on Hospital Productions last year, and unfortunately sans rosary. These are eleven shorter tracks of shaved, naked and shivering drones and rhythmic noise, relentless, intuitive and improvised abstractions carved from guitar, oscillators and computer. 'Decrepit' consists of previously unreleased material from 98-99, with reissue of tracks from his 2005 Kitty Play split LP and tracks from his super limited Dilmna records release in 2008; ranges from brief, furious noise aches to chamber doom scapes and needle-woven tonal explorations. 'No Edit' is exclusive to this boxset, an album of prepared guitar material recorded in 2009 and divided into two lengthy improvisations using prepared guitar, Octave Fuzz, pedals and mini-amp. The first section deconstructs his axe into kaleidoscopic splinters of morphing noise, while a second, more lethargic effort picks away at an emaciated six-string with thin wrists and heavy lids, attempting to eke out its very final sigh. 'Organ' is our final port of call, originally recorded in 1996 by Jim O'Rourke and initially included in edited form on the 'Comedy' album. Over 55 minutes of salvaged recordings Drumm lulls us into a deep hypgnosis with Earth-like primeval chords crushed into black ash with a saintly restraint and dedication worth of Phil Niblock to challenge the listeners concentration in return for deeply meditative rewards. The gold embossed boxset housing the CDs looks uncannily alike a tabernacle which only serves to reinforce the near religious impact of processing Drumm's music in your own personal space, where opening the unholy coffer to receive its bitter sacraments will become like some Hellraiser-esque rite of passage. Highly recommended to fans of Vainio, Merzbow, Pita, Konër and Prurient, a totally overwhelming collection of music from the darkside.