What initially drew me to Anthony Mangicapra’s work was his reminiscence to classic Nurse With Wound and irr. app. (ext.) pieces and over the last few years his own style has become more distinct, his own artistic voice becoming a firm command to listen. On this cassette, the sound he has been developing appears to have undergone another shift and both sides of the tape reveal new facets of his approach to sound.
On “What the Flame does not Consume,” Mangicapra explores the ritualistic aspects of his work as Hoor-paar-Kraat. Sustained tones and plucked strings fill the listening space while ominous percussion sets the mood for it all. It is one of the most menacing things I have heard from Mangicapra but much like a siren, the danger is accompanied by a transfixing beauty. There are echoes of some of the pieces from his Eureka Tapes trilogy but it is evident that Mangicapra is developing a new sonic palette; richer and earthier than before.
A very different piece takes up the B-side of the tape; “Oil & Ash” is a collage of comedy and spoken word recordings spliced together to remove the context, the sense and indeed the punchlines (or leaving just the punchlines). The chirpy babble of cut up voices eventually degenerates into a soup of chipmunk vocals, vinyl static and disembodied sound. Any of the whimsy present at the start of the piece has been dispatched as he leaves us in a clearing, far away from any recognizable landmarks. We are lost as the darkness falls.
Read More
