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Blacword, "Subduing Demons In South Yorkshire"
I am amazed at the madgenius that is Richard H. Kirk, once again he manages to blur the linebetween music and noise as entertainment in a very thought-provkingmanner.
Kirk expands on ideas from more recent works including,"Loopstatic" and "Darkness at Noon"; using found sounds, sampled mostlyfrom shortwave radio, mixed with his signature "Clonk" and tribalrhythms. This time almost the entire song structure is built up fromthese odd test tones, crackles and overheard conversations. It is evenless synth-based than before, the samples ARE the instruments and Kirkputs these cut-up fragments together to invoke a cacophony of chaoticcomplexity reminiscent of an automated factory assembly line or thebridge of the Starship Enterpise.Underneath an all-out barrage of sequenced sensorium and subsonic boomswe are spoonfed bytes of intercepted fascism - but we are toocaptivated by the "blinking lights" and weird noises to percieve all ofwhat is being said. Similar to recent works, the layered arrangementsgive you the feeling that something sinister is lurking behind thishappy industrial mayhem, something ominous, calculated and not easilydistracted. Is it music or noise with a beat?? You won't hear thismusic in any commericals and that's a good thing. For me, it has alwaysbeen about one's expectations- meeting Kirk's latest ideas andapproach. I notice every Kirk release has a particular quality to it—heobviously employs slightly different strategies, techniques andinstrumentation from one to the next—but he isn't interested inreinventing himself, just exploring new ideas and directions. He's atrue revolutionary 'artiste'. Remember that Al Jabr cover, I've oftenthought that we (his fans) are the hostages and Kirk is holding the gunto our head- ready to take us for a little ride, it may get rough, somemay be lost, but perhaps he'll return us safely and go back to makingthe slick techno he used to after the final installment of this trilogy(and we pay his ransom),...
To sum up my thoughts: I like this "Blacworld" CD. The seminalindustrial artist, the visonary "Dark Magus" of modern music has openeda window to a futuristic reality of technologic overload; of increasingsocio-political interconnection and manipulation at the dawn of theelectronic age. Take a look. - Daniel Barychko
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