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Astral Social Club, "MCR Blast"
This might be heresy to some folk out there, but Neil Campbell’s work as Astral Social Club far outweighs that of anything done in his time with either the A-Band or Vibracathedral Orchestra. The floating membership of Campbell’s club is bolstered here by Arttu Partinen, a member of Finland’s brickheaded jamsters Avarus. One side of this lathe falls flailing but focused into the pit while the other still clings to the top rung of Jacob’s ladder.
The opener, "MCR Blast One", begins as a knotty wash of competing drones and vocal wails smashed into with Mascis/Young riffs. On this release, Astral Social Club manage to force a river-dredged rainbow release through a tiny funnel letting it explode out the other end. A swooping choir of Neil Campbells fills the mid-range of this cut, the top end exploded out by spaceships with busted taillights, ripping open the air. The homemade / primitive nature of their sound never short-changes the listener with straightforward noise or improv clichés.
Like a great brass coloured circling ring “MCR Blast Two” swirls around and sinks further into itself loop after loop. Feedback seagull cries are interleaved through the mashed swooning raga and patterns of wooden percussion patterns. Counter melodies like snake charmer riffs come through like excerpts from the Radio Nepal series, except captured in a mancunian basement instead of a sweaty apartment. Eagles nest calls tear through the blustery weather of layers and chimes to create an electric sprawl of sounds.
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