Review: Voltage - Building The Bass Castle, Vol. 1 (or) not at all similar to back in black
Posted on 1 March 2006 | 2 Comments
Filed Under: Album Reviews, Noise, Post Rock
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Voltage is a noisemaking duo comprised of Chicagoans Erik Schwartz and Todd Bailey. Their particular brand of instrumental noise rock mayhem is often compared to that of Hella but I’d have a hard time putting exactly what they do into words. Avant-garde but structured.
“Bailey plays a vacuum-tube based synthesizer of his own design which is controlled by a modified guitar, and occasionally appears with a touch and breath sensitive analog synth, an interactive jewelry-controlled sequencer or a Commodore 64 computer. On the other end, you will find Schwartz playing a drum kit of his own concoction, consisting of a Frankenstein assortment of marching and rock drums, a glockenspiel, battery operated motors, microphones, and more recently, a laptop configured for live sampling.”
“Considering how difficult it can be to distinguish a good sounding noise band, it’s much easier to assess the coolness of their gear. While Voltage’s technocratic wizardry puts them at the head of the class, their spazz-jazz is sure to win the hearts of high school AV club dorks and Don Caballero freaks alike.” – CMJ
Their latest album Building The Bass Castle, Vol. 1 is out now on Flameshovel Records. Seriously, it seems like everything that label has released lately is great (Bound Stems, Voltage, Maritime, etc…)
MP3 | Voltage – Track 4 Building The Bass Castle Vol. 1
MP3 | Voltage – Track 2 Building The Bass Castle Vol. 1
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