Category: the crate

Much environmental industrial music has all the charm of a surveillance tape — the chance voyeuristic thrills of the overheard. Loren Chasse‘s four cuts on the hand-crafted release Exfolia Motors (Unique Ancient Tavern) — the lovely package includes painting and photography — seem to turn the mic inward: even as you listen to the distant drones and faulty machinery, you feel as though you’re the one being eavesdropped on. The effect can be frightening at times. Sure, the creaky-stairs effect is horror-flick scary, but what really gets you is the assumed intimacy of these sounds: so casual, so familiar.

Thanks to the Aquarius Records store in San Francisco for the recommendation.

Released late last year, and obsessively listened to ever since: Tommy Guerrero and Gadget‘s Hoy Yen Ass’n (Function8). This is DJ Krush-quality hip-hop minimalism. Think the best of the Beasties’ slap-dash soul, with the tempo halved. With its favor for urban decay, the collection of over a dozen cuts brings to mind two of Guerrero’s fellow San Francisco Bay Area artists: Tom Waits, with his fascination with so-called “bone machines,” and the painter Barry McGee, for his whimsical take on sad-sack urchin life. The beats are steady and mechanical, like a sequence of tiny drawers into which Guerrero and Gadget drop tiny found sounds. Soulful, dubby, perfect Sunday afternoon music. Famed organist, and sometime Grateful Dead guest (and, apparently, Gadget’s godfather), Merl Saunders contributes to two cuts. Enhanced CD provides background info, photos, etc.

Limited window for this live session by Solex, courtesy of legendary BBC DJ John Peel (bbc.co.uk/radio1). Twelve songs in all.