In addition to the cassettes reviewed by Creaig Dunton last week, Anthony Mangicapra has also been busy releasing some terrific little CD-Rs on the world. Short and sweet, these two releases further demonstrate why Mangicapra and his associate Ryan Martin (of the group York Factory Complaint and label Robert & Leopold) are making some of the most engaging music this year.
Robert & Leopold / Goat Eater Arts
Live at the Brooklyn Fashion League consists of single piece, "This Is All Very Familiar," which finds Mangicapra joined in his work as Hoor-paar-Kraat by Martin for about 15 minutes. Beginning with metallic scrapings and odd snippets of vocals, it picks up where earlier Hoor-paar-Kraat works have left off. Slurred animal noises and a throbbing hum fill out the space to create a busy but not too cluttered arrangement (though it does become quite dense towards the end). Despite being an amalgamation of mostly unmusical sounds, the performance has a lyricism that is largely lacking from contemporary noise and experimental music.
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Mangicapra’s studio collaboration with Martin, Golden Hazrat, takes on a far more varied approach compared to Live at the Brooklyn Fashion League. Overall, Golden Hazrat reminds me of a condensed version of Throbbing Gristle’s Journey Through a Body both in range and in tone. Building up from a chthonic rumble, scrapes and echoing noises create a sinister vibe that all of a sudden gives way to a serene sound of water flowing and dripping.
Just when it seems like the fluvial beauty is there to stay, harsh feedback (or are they heavily manipulated vocals?) erupts like a surprise electrical storm before morphing into the sounds of subway trains. The piece continues to shift and swerve around my ears in unpredictable but fascinating ways, the combination of Mangicapra and Martin together is as good, if not better, than their respective solo works.
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