Massachusetts-based Sedimental Records has been in sporadic activitysince 1993. They don't put out records often, but when they do it'sclearly a labor of love. Past releases skip across what is either ahighly idiosyncratic or just plain broadminded survey of experimentalmusics, revealing a commendable focus on debut and early releases fromrelatively obscure artists. The packaging and presentation of thelabel's releases are consistently exceptional, though they operate bestas indicators of the keen interest and investment Sedimental brings tothe music itself. Late 2003 saw the release of five new titles, endinga period of stagnancy with quite a bang. The first of these comes fromTexas improvisers Tonalamotl, a revolving group of musicians who createslow-building textural immersions much in the traditional ofelectro-acoustic groups like AMM. All tracks were recorded live aroundthe surprisingly rock-ist core instrumentation of guitars and drums.These instruments become hardly recognizable, the guitars taking onthrobbing, motor-like sounds that ride the background much of the timeand drums sounding systematically disassembled, each piece of wood andmetal given its proper tinkering. The most interesting aspect ofTonalamotl's music is the way the group seems to confront theperformance space. Much of the sound on Mo(ve)mentsumfeels gathered via contact mics, scraping surfaces or mining the airaround the diligent performers, who move with the frenzied attention ofelectrons in an atomic cage. In a track performed at Austin's 33?Records, the store's door alarms, scattered coughs and floor creaksbecome lynch pins and transition markers in the drifting composition.Hundreds of sounds incapable of being passed off on keyboard or evendog whistle (both of which appear liberally) make up the bulk of theseoften subtle, though immediate pieces. Wind coming through the room onone track sounds like it could've been pulled from Alan Splet'sambient-industrial Eraserhead soundtrack; elsewhere what mustbe a keyboard drone meets distant percussive hammering to approximatethe sound of an idling engine, punctuated by the occasional cymbalcrash or drum kick. Moments like these abound, where splashes of therecognizable or the rough bring the listener out of the budding trancestate, face-to-face with the twitching human making all the racket. Theproduction is such that each exploited detail is respectfully capturedbut in a way that allows the rustic character of the music to bleedthrough. Even with this new release, their second, Tonalamotl remainsan enigmatic group, its members involved in various ways with other(unlikely) Texas bands such as At the Drive In, Trail of Dead, andWhite Heat. With the recording dates for these tracks stretching backto '97 and '98, it seems doubtful that the group will record again, allthe more reason to look for Mo(ve)mentsum now.samples:
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