NFOmation.net - Your Ultimate NFO Upload Resource! Viewing NFO file: 00_modern_witch_-_disaro-cdr-disaro-2010-cruelty.nfo 00_modern_witch_-_disaro-cdr-disaro-2010-cruelty
CRUELTY Presents:
Artist...: Modern Witch
Album....: Disaro
Label....: Disaro
Size.....: 33,8 MB
Source...: CDDA
Playtime.: 36:48 min
Genre....: Electronic
Release..: Sep-22-2010
Encoder..: LAME V3.97 -V2 --Vbr-New
Quality..: avgkbps 44.1Hz Joint-Stereo
Track List:
01 01:15 Intro
02 03:34 Boyz
03 02:34 Chalize
04 04:42 Not The Only One
05 03:01 Lights
06 02:31 Hold In
07 04:00 In Your Eyes
08 03:49 Nothing Is Wrong
09 03:46 Untitled
10 03:26 Can't Live In A
11 04:10 Ghosts Of You
Release Notes:
I have no idea who is behind Modern Witch (man? woman?
men? women? ROBOTS?), never mind the what or the where
or the why of this record's existence. But with a name
like MODERN WITCH and a cover like that, I'm buying.
Going by the cover alone, I'm thinking: like if Marianne
Faithful had recorded 'Modern English' when she was
still hanging out with Kenneth Anger? And if the music
within doesn't have the grace to follow up that
suggestion, that's ok, the key point being made here is
that this is a recording for and by people who
understand such distinctions, and who surely didn't
create that impression by accident.
As Modern Witch hissed from the computer speakers (I may
have my EQ set to favour "explodes from..", but stuff
like is made to hiss), I was apprehensive, thinking I
might have been suckered into some kind of sleazy,
disembodied creep-hop, ala Salem or whatever. One
thing's for sure - those who like their music to sound
invigorating, to convey sense of hard work and bonhomie
and steadfast, stand-up decency... those people will not
be taken to a happy place by this one. The atmosphere
here is glassy-eyed fashionista lethargy of the highest
order. Real "let-the-machines-do-their-thing-man-I-
can't-summon-the-energy-to-move-my-arm" vibes.
Thankfully though, further listening reveals a lot more
warmth and interest here than such affected laziness
would tend to suggest, for those willing to look beyond
it at least.
Just the facts ma'am: Modern Witch focuses predominantly
on the familiar (some may say deathlessly over-familiar)
combo of '80s horror soundtrack synths and low-battery
drum machine chug. Unsettling tempo/fidelity shifts,
fuzzy neon zapping noises, dictaphone street sounds and
police radio noise come and go as required. Some tracks
are content to skulk around in the abstract like
decaying library music cues, whilst about half the album
more fully manifests into the form of brutally
repetitious electro-punk songs fronted by a dissolute
female vocalist.
More pointless '80s pastiche drek foregrounding cheap
signifier sounds over content would seem an easy
diagnosis - too easy if you ask me.
Let me put it this way:
The British 'hauntology' crew, (primarily consisting of
men who were growing up just as the odd idyll of post-
war Britain was giving way to the ugly '" realities "'
of the Thatherite '80s), have long been building their
own aesthetic out of attempts to claw back a glimpse of
that just-out-of-reach childhood wonderland, eventually
using music and album artwork to build a rich alternate
past whose possibilities carry an appeal beyond that of
mere dull retro-fetishism.
In doing so, the Ghostbox and Mordant guys have created
music that works off an open ticket of subtle cultural
recognition, as opposed to brute musical content, and
they have been lucky enough to see their efforts widely
acknowledged by critics and bloggers of, by and large,
the same generation and cultural background - those who
understand the cues and codes.
So then, why should we not grant the same liberties to
younger American artists, working on a timeline shifted
forward approximately a decade? People who whom the '80s
mark the beginning, rather than the end, of the holy
mystery?
Creepy and lifeless as it may initially sound, I think
that a hell of a lot of attention and imagination has
been invested in this Modern Witch record, and a wealth
of effective and chilling moments are the result... if
you're ready/able to pick up on 'em.
Why has "In Your Eyes" - a hypnotic disco blissout that
could have been pulled from a Larry Levan DJ set - been
deliberately muffled to the extent that we could be
listening to it through a brick wall in the alleyway
next to the club? And what are we to say to the dot
matrix printer that rampages in far higher fidelity over
the end of the track?
What dark secrets lie behind "Not The Only One", in
which an emotionless narrative of "buying food items"
with a unnamed an co-conspirator is paired with an
impossibly sinister Zombie Flesh Eaters backing track,
while the singsong chorus states "I was not the only one
/ who believed what you said to me"?
"I Can't Live In A Living Room" is the 'hit', swaying
closer to punkoid reality by way of sounding like
Niagara from Destroy All Monsters fronting a New York
claustrophobia-wracked version of The Screamers, but
even here they're very knowingly playing to a crowd for
whom descriptions like that actually make sense, almost
DARING you to mute your enjoyment long enough to call
foul on such internet-era retro-plagiarism. I don't
wanna do that though, cos the song f-ing rules.
And if the more jarring, fragmentary blurts of sound
here sound like they could have been pulled straight off
the soundtrack to "Liquid Sky", then similarly, one is
dared to recall how that film's producers had to queue
up for the chance to wrestle with a gigantic, public
access synthesizer to realise their impossible dream of
a twisted fashionista future, whereas Modern Witch
presumably had a pretty chilled out time plugging some
cool bits of old gear she/he/they/it got off ebay
straight into the laptop and letting rip.
Perhaps *because* of such easy availability, the idea of
some untarnished progression and innovation in pop music
has seemed pretty dumb to me ever since people got bored
of listening to exploding-harddrive post-Aphex Twin
music a few years back. What else have you got in the
future box? Atari Teenage Riot are getting back together
to do nostalgia shows - it's hilarious. Thirty three
years after "no future", is it any wonder that the most
fun way to approach the future is to reimagine a new
past and project it forward? Will I break some sort of
record if I pose any more rhetorical questions?
And furthermore, the early '80s seem a particularly
effective battleground for such shenanigans - a period
in which the scary proclamations of the original Italian
futurists seemed to finally trickle down into popular
culture, as people started consciously making their
music and movies rich with FUTURE. Even today, bands
essentially playing Joy Division-style post-punk get
lauded by The Guardian for their bleak, futurist vision,
even as their reliance on before-we-were-born nostalgia
means they might as well be doing a set of Hollies
covers.
By contrast, Modern Witch represents a prime vehicle for
some more worthwhile re-enactment. Like the British
hauntology records, all the jumping off points for a
complete sensory experience are right there in the
sound. Close your eyes and the visuals will come.
Imagine if in 1981, John Carpenter hadn't made 'Escape
From New York', but had instead headed in the opposite
direction, making a low budget, experimental feature
about anorexic New York models who conduct weird occult
rituals in an abandoned porno theatre...? Not that I
don't love 'Escape From New York' with every fibre of my
being, but... that would have been pretty cool, huh?
Well THIS IS THE SOUNDTRACK TO THAT FILM, as reassembled
by obsessive fans taping the audio off old VHS prints.
Seriously - it could have happened. And if enough of us
dim the lights (maybe whilst projecting 'Car Cemetery'
and 'New York Ripper' on top of each other on the
wall?), drink in some Modern Witch and hope really,
really hard... IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN.
This NFO File was rendered by NFOmation.net
CRUELTY Presents:
Artist...: Modern Witch
Album....: Disaro
Label....: Disaro
Size.....: 33,8 MB
Source...: CDDA
Playtime.: 36:48 min
Genre....: Electronic
Release..: Sep-22-2010
Encoder..: LAME V3.97 -V2 --Vbr-New
Quality..: avgkbps 44.1Hz Joint-Stereo
Track List:
01 01:15 Intro
02 03:34 Boyz
03 02:34 Chalize
04 04:42 Not The Only One
05 03:01 Lights
06 02:31 Hold In
07 04:00 In Your Eyes
08 03:49 Nothing Is Wrong
09 03:46 Untitled
10 03:26 Can't Live In A
11 04:10 Ghosts Of You
Release Notes:
I have no idea who is behind Modern Witch (man? woman?
men? women? ROBOTS?), never mind the what or the where
or the why of this record's existence. But with a name
like MODERN WITCH and a cover like that, I'm buying.
Going by the cover alone, I'm thinking: like if Marianne
Faithful had recorded 'Modern English' when she was
still hanging out with Kenneth Anger? And if the music
within doesn't have the grace to follow up that
suggestion, that's ok, the key point being made here is
that this is a recording for and by people who
understand such distinctions, and who surely didn't
create that impression by accident.
As Modern Witch hissed from the computer speakers (I may
have my EQ set to favour "explodes from..", but stuff
like is made to hiss), I was apprehensive, thinking I
might have been suckered into some kind of sleazy,
disembodied creep-hop, ala Salem or whatever. One
thing's for sure - those who like their music to sound
invigorating, to convey sense of hard work and bonhomie
and steadfast, stand-up decency... those people will not
be taken to a happy place by this one. The atmosphere
here is glassy-eyed fashionista lethargy of the highest
order. Real "let-the-machines-do-their-thing-man-I-
can't-summon-the-energy-to-move-my-arm" vibes.
Thankfully though, further listening reveals a lot more
warmth and interest here than such affected laziness
would tend to suggest, for those willing to look beyond
it at least.
Just the facts ma'am: Modern Witch focuses predominantly
on the familiar (some may say deathlessly over-familiar)
combo of '80s horror soundtrack synths and low-battery
drum machine chug. Unsettling tempo/fidelity shifts,
fuzzy neon zapping noises, dictaphone street sounds and
police radio noise come and go as required. Some tracks
are content to skulk around in the abstract like
decaying library music cues, whilst about half the album
more fully manifests into the form of brutally
repetitious electro-punk songs fronted by a dissolute
female vocalist.
More pointless '80s pastiche drek foregrounding cheap
signifier sounds over content would seem an easy
diagnosis - too easy if you ask me.
Let me put it this way:
The British 'hauntology' crew, (primarily consisting of
men who were growing up just as the odd idyll of post-
war Britain was giving way to the ugly '" realities "'
of the Thatherite '80s), have long been building their
own aesthetic out of attempts to claw back a glimpse of
that just-out-of-reach childhood wonderland, eventually
using music and album artwork to build a rich alternate
past whose possibilities carry an appeal beyond that of
mere dull retro-fetishism.
In doing so, the Ghostbox and Mordant guys have created
music that works off an open ticket of subtle cultural
recognition, as opposed to brute musical content, and
they have been lucky enough to see their efforts widely
acknowledged by critics and bloggers of, by and large,
the same generation and cultural background - those who
understand the cues and codes.
So then, why should we not grant the same liberties to
younger American artists, working on a timeline shifted
forward approximately a decade? People who whom the '80s
mark the beginning, rather than the end, of the holy
mystery?
Creepy and lifeless as it may initially sound, I think
that a hell of a lot of attention and imagination has
been invested in this Modern Witch record, and a wealth
of effective and chilling moments are the result... if
you're ready/able to pick up on 'em.
Why has "In Your Eyes" - a hypnotic disco blissout that
could have been pulled from a Larry Levan DJ set - been
deliberately muffled to the extent that we could be
listening to it through a brick wall in the alleyway
next to the club? And what are we to say to the dot
matrix printer that rampages in far higher fidelity over
the end of the track?
What dark secrets lie behind "Not The Only One", in
which an emotionless narrative of "buying food items"
with a unnamed an co-conspirator is paired with an
impossibly sinister Zombie Flesh Eaters backing track,
while the singsong chorus states "I was not the only one
/ who believed what you said to me"?
"I Can't Live In A Living Room" is the 'hit', swaying
closer to punkoid reality by way of sounding like
Niagara from Destroy All Monsters fronting a New York
claustrophobia-wracked version of The Screamers, but
even here they're very knowingly playing to a crowd for
whom descriptions like that actually make sense, almost
DARING you to mute your enjoyment long enough to call
foul on such internet-era retro-plagiarism. I don't
wanna do that though, cos the song f-ing rules.
And if the more jarring, fragmentary blurts of sound
here sound like they could have been pulled straight off
the soundtrack to "Liquid Sky", then similarly, one is
dared to recall how that film's producers had to queue
up for the chance to wrestle with a gigantic, public
access synthesizer to realise their impossible dream of
a twisted fashionista future, whereas Modern Witch
presumably had a pretty chilled out time plugging some
cool bits of old gear she/he/they/it got off ebay
straight into the laptop and letting rip.
Perhaps *because* of such easy availability, the idea of
some untarnished progression and innovation in pop music
has seemed pretty dumb to me ever since people got bored
of listening to exploding-harddrive post-Aphex Twin
music a few years back. What else have you got in the
future box? Atari Teenage Riot are getting back together
to do nostalgia shows - it's hilarious. Thirty three
years after "no future", is it any wonder that the most
fun way to approach the future is to reimagine a new
past and project it forward? Will I break some sort of
record if I pose any more rhetorical questions?
And furthermore, the early '80s seem a particularly
effective battleground for such shenanigans - a period
in which the scary proclamations of the original Italian
futurists seemed to finally trickle down into popular
culture, as people started consciously making their
music and movies rich with FUTURE. Even today, bands
essentially playing Joy Division-style post-punk get
lauded by The Guardian for their bleak, futurist vision,
even as their reliance on before-we-were-born nostalgia
means they might as well be doing a set of Hollies
covers.
By contrast, Modern Witch represents a prime vehicle for
some more worthwhile re-enactment. Like the British
hauntology records, all the jumping off points for a
complete sensory experience are right there in the
sound. Close your eyes and the visuals will come.
Imagine if in 1981, John Carpenter hadn't made 'Escape
From New York', but had instead headed in the opposite
direction, making a low budget, experimental feature
about anorexic New York models who conduct weird occult
rituals in an abandoned porno theatre...? Not that I
don't love 'Escape From New York' with every fibre of my
being, but... that would have been pretty cool, huh?
Well THIS IS THE SOUNDTRACK TO THAT FILM, as reassembled
by obsessive fans taping the audio off old VHS prints.
Seriously - it could have happened. And if enough of us
dim the lights (maybe whilst projecting 'Car Cemetery'
and 'New York Ripper' on top of each other on the
wall?), drink in some Modern Witch and hope really,
really hard... IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN.
This NFO File was rendered by NFOmation.net
