Ettrick, "Feeders of Ravens" (Not Not Fun, 2007)

Ettrick, Feeders of Ravens
Not Not Fun, 2007.


After the scorched earth attack of Sudden Arrythmic Death Vol. 2, the dual sax & drums free-death duo, Ettrick, have emerged to emaciate the maggot infested corpse of harsh jazz noise with their first full-length lp, Feeders of Ravens. Now, if you've no prior experience with Ettrick, let me break it down for you before you go and hurt yourself: bone-grinding double-kick drumming from four sets of feet, pared with face-melting saxophone freakouts that utterly S L A Y Borbetomagus, Vandermark, and Zorn's tired asses and corpse-fuck their fetid remains. With little respect to those previously mentioned, there is little I can liken Ettrick's skin-scalding sax and drums attack to, although Mick Barr's work in Orthrelm and Octis comes to mind. Feeders of Ravens eight tracks of ascetic jazz extremism all seem to be composed of free improvisations, which are each based upon some previously set parameter (say: drums and sax, sax and sax, drums and drums). However, just because it's free doesn't mean their jazz is cheap. It's clearly obvious that the deadly psychic connection shared between Jacob Felix Heule and Jay Korber is the result of relentless practicing, rather than laziness and a lack of skill passed off as avant-garde. That being said, although Ettrick's improvised death jazz is dense and incredibly varied, I find that prolonged listening can be a little overwhelming. I prefer their thunderous assaults and screeching terror when delivered in shorter, sharper bursts of acoustic violence, rather than drawn-out in L'Eng Tche styled torture sessions. Feeders of Ravens is both an incredible debut lp, and a torture garden of grand guignol jazz delights where you're the slave and Ettrick are the masters.

Pocahaunted and Robedoor, Mouth of Prayer cdr review

Pocahaunted and Robedoor, Mouth of Prayer cdr,
released on Blackest Rainbow

The hard-working people at the Not Not Fun label have been making plenty of waves recently with the burgeoning success of Goliath Bird Eater, as well their Bored Fortress 7" series, and I decided it was time, for my own benefit, to give some of bands associated with the L.A. label a much needed listen. Having heard the Robedoor's Shining Smoke cdr, released on LongLongChaney Records, I had some idea what to expect of this collaborative effort, but having no exposure to Pocahaunted previous to this release, I was still in for quite the surprise, and what a surprise! Blooming like a haunted orchid unfolding in one long single track, Mouth of Prayer opens with the light strumming of some distant looped guitar chords, surrounded by the warmth of a gently growing drone. As the warm tones thicken and become more layered, mournful, angelic vocals enter into the mix, crying out over softly padded tribal drumming. Robedoor definitely explore their softer side on Mouth of Prayer, ditching their usually heavily layered, smoke-machine drone textures for a more subtle, breathy approach, exposing a much softer side of the duo's doom-dub experiments. Most likely, this is a result of the more playful company they decided to keep on this cdr. Wordlessly channelling voices from some native netherworld, the ladies from Pocahaunted chant in ghostly circles, adding an ethereal element to Robedoor's burning spirit-fire. Mouth of Prayer is repetitive, but in a good way, and can be experienced as an exercise in ritual ambience. While fans familiar with Not Not Fun's skronkier, no(w)-wave styled releases might be turned off by Pocahaunted and Robedoor's New Agey jrone and jrum circle jams, listeners looking for something to soothe their noise-seared ears would do well to take a swim in these ghostly waters.