Those lucky enough to have witnessed Burning Star Core in solo form will expect more than just a single idea bled into 40 minutes. This release captures three different 2004 shows that give an excellent example of the styles that C Spencer Yeh can rip, both alone and as a team player. It never does any harm to get an all-star cast either.
The restraint of the lineup on the opening piece has to be heard to be believed. Joined by two thirds of Hair Police (Trevor Tremaine and Robert Beatty) and noise merchant Mike Shiflet, this is not the expected blowout racket. Though it does reveal, especially to those who haven’t seen any live shows that Yeh is a far more energetic sounding player than his mild-mannered exterior would imply. The hardcore wall of whistling feedback and pitch-fucked swoons are soon revealed as sourced from his violin, not a ten strong gang of doom metallers. A rabble of free percussion buck shots punch through melodic riffs that seem to crack open as soon as they are birthed. The piece has a rising feel of a static lift off, focused electric power forcing the sounds into elevation.
"Two" is a duo piece with the aforementioned Beatty fights the closer for disc’s top slot. Fluttering violin and flickering film reel sounds reveal an instant interplay between the two players. This soon becomes gorgeously twisted up by DJ scratch-like high frequencies and metallic chiming sirens. After a brief lull comes a wall of dial manipulation and some painful throat work, Yeh sounds like a brutal cross between Mike Patton’s throat rips and Gonzo from the Muppets.
His solo closer is a voice, black box, and wires piece that rattles along in a sweetly sinister style. The handling of electronics here is astounding listening, and amongst his best works ever. The constant bed of clatter, like the rattle of an underground drain, is a slowly warmed through murk that’s driven by propulsive drifts of synth sound. At times it seems like a static organ part floats over piece, levering departed souls up and out of the music. This is at times before glorious and chilling, making the 14-and-a-half minute ride totally transfixing. 2004 appears to have been a very good year for Burning Star Core.
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