HR096 - Mental Anguish/Minóy - Slaughter In The Air - C90 — 1989
Side A:
Rosin The Very First Time Jazz Me Down Loves To Do The Wild Thang Straighten Me Out Stuck Like Glue |
Side B:
Smugglers Bluez Help Me Meanwhile Slaughter In The Air Brass Monkey |
REVIEW by Jerry Kranitz
Slaughter In The Air is a collaboration between Harsh Reality label commander Chris Phinney’s Mental Anguish and sound sculpting maestro Minóy.
Side A begins with ‘Rosin’, a combination of playful synth melody, droned duck call, and staggered metronome. It’s an odd trio but I like the incongruous blend of simple melody, rhythm, and texture. ‘The Very First Time’ blends spacey drones, anguished, ghostly vocal wails, multiple voice samples that sound like women at a black church service, and a relaxed cosmic groove. The women, which at times include a soulful R&B/gospel singer, eerily compliments the spectral wails and additional tape dragged voice. And it trips along to a smooth but steady and mildly funky space groove. ‘Jazz Me Down’ combines the minimally rhythmic gaggle of chattering crowd sample with a get-down-funky jazz jamming groove of electro drum ‘kit’ and bleepity synth. ‘Loves To Do The Wild Thang’ is an avant-psychedelic collage blend of shamanic chants, swirly space tones, crackly percussion, and voice samples. ‘Straighten Me Out’ is 15 minutes of layered rumbling space drones, scratchy textural patterns, and gurgling buzz lines. I’m reminded of the spaceship buzzing along on a string in the old Buster Crabbe Flash Gordon serial. ‘Stuck Like Glue’ is similar to ‘The Very First Time’, but with a flighty not-quite-melody and sans the shouting women.
‘Smugglers Bluez’ opens Side B, consisting of radio samples reporting on drug and gun trafficking in Iran, surrounded by a tribal dance around the sacred fire glom of chattering and percussion. ‘Help Me’ features an electronic pulse that alternates between heart beating throb and robotic melody. And we have what I’ll call ‘lead vocals’ by the anguished wailer who has been an ongoing presence throughout this set, though in this case there are almost discernible lyrics spewed in a crazed, cry-baby punk style. ‘Meanwhile’ is a mixture of clangy, clickity metal and other percussion plus synth melody, some of which sounds like a lo-fi church organ, and fluttering, grainy electronic patterns make for an abstract blend of contrasts. ‘Slaughter In The Air’ cranks out exaggerated whining and screaming Blues vocals against various tones: pulsating, steadily minimal, wavering. I initially found the vocals annoying. But throughout this 14-minute piece it started to grow on me as a kind of Captain Beefheart in lo-fi alien space. 14 minutes was too long but this ended up as one of my favorite tracks of the set. Finally, ‘Brass Monkey’ is a whirly twirly array of electronic sci-fi carnival scenes and mind-bending drones.
INTERVIEW with Chris Phinney by Jerry Kranitz
Jerry Kranitz (JK): I think I recall you said you never knew Minóy when he lived in Memphis?
Chris Phinney (CP): No. He was five years older than me. And at the time he lived in Memphis there was nothing but hatred towards homosexuals.
JK: So you encountered him through the normal ‘network’ means of the time and it was just coincidence that he was also from Memphis?
CP: I got into contact with Minóy through Dave Prescott and Zan Hoffman. We decided to do a collaboration. He sent me an audio letter that said we’re going to get along great. We’ve got a gay in California and a redneck in Tennessee. And we did. It sounded in the review like you didn’t care for his wailing but that’s what he did on quite a few albums. He wailed his ass off.
JK: It’s not that I didn’t like it. Maybe it’s because the title track was so long. I initially found the vocals annoying. But as it progressed they started to grow on me as a kind of Captain Beefheart in lo-fi space feel.
CP: Yeah, he did a lot of wailing on that tape (laughs).
JK: We first hear it on the second track, ‘The Very First Time’, with the drones and all the anguish in his vocals. Plus it’s mixed with those voice samples. What were those samples from? A black church service?
CP: I don’t know. I didn’t question what he sampled.
JK: So Minóy provided those?
CP: He provided those and I just did music and effects. Like on ‘Rosin’, the first track, he was using a cheesy ass Casio. And for what you called a droned duck call I used a 7.67 Digitech Sampler Time Machine. I was beating on something and making noise with my voice. Then I sampled it into the 7.67 so that it would run over, and over, and over.
JK: That’s interesting to me. I get impressions while listening and just toss out the analogies that strike me in the review. It’s cool hearing what produced the sounds that I called a droned duck call.
CP: Yeah. We were very minimal on this tape. You’ve heard how noisy the other collaboration we did was.
JK: I never heard that one. Slaughter In The Air is the first one in the HR catalog you did with Minóy. Did you do a previous collaboration released on another label?
CP: No. It comes later in the HR catalog. It’s called Affection Of Hometown Scars (HR214).
JK: The credits say you recorded ‘Slaughter In The Air’ from July ’88 through February ’89, which is seven months. Did it take that long because you guys did a lot of back and forth through the mail? Or just didn’t have time to work on it continuously?
CP: We did a lot of back and forth. We didn’t do it all at the same time. We traded back and forth quite often. We would finish a piece or two. And either I’d finish one or he’d finish one. So we both actually did the final mix. The tracks are split between both of us, who mixed down what.
JK: That’s interesting. I always ask you about that when we’re talking about your collaborations and usually you did all the mixing. But this was additionally collaborative in that you finished some tracks and he finished some. What created the electronic drum ‘kit’ sound on ‘Jazz Me Down’?
CP: It was electro drums.
JK: But not the drum machines you used so much on previous releases?
CP: No. It’s a long dead and gone BOSS DR-55.
JK: ‘Loves To Do The Wild Thang’ is a bit different. It has a psychedelic edge, particularly due to the chanting.
CP: Yeah, ‘Loves To Do The Wild Thang’, people think we’re going to do a cover of ‘Wild Thing’. Minóy did the chants.
JK: ‘Straighten Me Out’ is another track I liked a lot. The droney buzzy sound reminded me of the cheesy sound of the spaceship in the old Flash Gordon serials.
CP: I think that was another shitty Casio (laughs).
JK: ‘Help Me’ was interesting because it actually had vocals with lyrics. I couldn’t make them out but there’s more going on than screaming and wailing. That’s a pretty wild track.
CP: You can’t make out the words. He ran them through reverb and whatever else. Minóy was at his prime in this era.
JK: I like the Bride Of Frankenstein cover. Did someone do that artwork for you?
CP: It’s from Famous Monsters Of Filmland magazine.
Slaughter In The Air is a collaboration between Harsh Reality label commander Chris Phinney’s Mental Anguish and sound sculpting maestro Minóy.
Side A begins with ‘Rosin’, a combination of playful synth melody, droned duck call, and staggered metronome. It’s an odd trio but I like the incongruous blend of simple melody, rhythm, and texture. ‘The Very First Time’ blends spacey drones, anguished, ghostly vocal wails, multiple voice samples that sound like women at a black church service, and a relaxed cosmic groove. The women, which at times include a soulful R&B/gospel singer, eerily compliments the spectral wails and additional tape dragged voice. And it trips along to a smooth but steady and mildly funky space groove. ‘Jazz Me Down’ combines the minimally rhythmic gaggle of chattering crowd sample with a get-down-funky jazz jamming groove of electro drum ‘kit’ and bleepity synth. ‘Loves To Do The Wild Thang’ is an avant-psychedelic collage blend of shamanic chants, swirly space tones, crackly percussion, and voice samples. ‘Straighten Me Out’ is 15 minutes of layered rumbling space drones, scratchy textural patterns, and gurgling buzz lines. I’m reminded of the spaceship buzzing along on a string in the old Buster Crabbe Flash Gordon serial. ‘Stuck Like Glue’ is similar to ‘The Very First Time’, but with a flighty not-quite-melody and sans the shouting women.
‘Smugglers Bluez’ opens Side B, consisting of radio samples reporting on drug and gun trafficking in Iran, surrounded by a tribal dance around the sacred fire glom of chattering and percussion. ‘Help Me’ features an electronic pulse that alternates between heart beating throb and robotic melody. And we have what I’ll call ‘lead vocals’ by the anguished wailer who has been an ongoing presence throughout this set, though in this case there are almost discernible lyrics spewed in a crazed, cry-baby punk style. ‘Meanwhile’ is a mixture of clangy, clickity metal and other percussion plus synth melody, some of which sounds like a lo-fi church organ, and fluttering, grainy electronic patterns make for an abstract blend of contrasts. ‘Slaughter In The Air’ cranks out exaggerated whining and screaming Blues vocals against various tones: pulsating, steadily minimal, wavering. I initially found the vocals annoying. But throughout this 14-minute piece it started to grow on me as a kind of Captain Beefheart in lo-fi alien space. 14 minutes was too long but this ended up as one of my favorite tracks of the set. Finally, ‘Brass Monkey’ is a whirly twirly array of electronic sci-fi carnival scenes and mind-bending drones.
INTERVIEW with Chris Phinney by Jerry Kranitz
Jerry Kranitz (JK): I think I recall you said you never knew Minóy when he lived in Memphis?
Chris Phinney (CP): No. He was five years older than me. And at the time he lived in Memphis there was nothing but hatred towards homosexuals.
JK: So you encountered him through the normal ‘network’ means of the time and it was just coincidence that he was also from Memphis?
CP: I got into contact with Minóy through Dave Prescott and Zan Hoffman. We decided to do a collaboration. He sent me an audio letter that said we’re going to get along great. We’ve got a gay in California and a redneck in Tennessee. And we did. It sounded in the review like you didn’t care for his wailing but that’s what he did on quite a few albums. He wailed his ass off.
JK: It’s not that I didn’t like it. Maybe it’s because the title track was so long. I initially found the vocals annoying. But as it progressed they started to grow on me as a kind of Captain Beefheart in lo-fi space feel.
CP: Yeah, he did a lot of wailing on that tape (laughs).
JK: We first hear it on the second track, ‘The Very First Time’, with the drones and all the anguish in his vocals. Plus it’s mixed with those voice samples. What were those samples from? A black church service?
CP: I don’t know. I didn’t question what he sampled.
JK: So Minóy provided those?
CP: He provided those and I just did music and effects. Like on ‘Rosin’, the first track, he was using a cheesy ass Casio. And for what you called a droned duck call I used a 7.67 Digitech Sampler Time Machine. I was beating on something and making noise with my voice. Then I sampled it into the 7.67 so that it would run over, and over, and over.
JK: That’s interesting to me. I get impressions while listening and just toss out the analogies that strike me in the review. It’s cool hearing what produced the sounds that I called a droned duck call.
CP: Yeah. We were very minimal on this tape. You’ve heard how noisy the other collaboration we did was.
JK: I never heard that one. Slaughter In The Air is the first one in the HR catalog you did with Minóy. Did you do a previous collaboration released on another label?
CP: No. It comes later in the HR catalog. It’s called Affection Of Hometown Scars (HR214).
JK: The credits say you recorded ‘Slaughter In The Air’ from July ’88 through February ’89, which is seven months. Did it take that long because you guys did a lot of back and forth through the mail? Or just didn’t have time to work on it continuously?
CP: We did a lot of back and forth. We didn’t do it all at the same time. We traded back and forth quite often. We would finish a piece or two. And either I’d finish one or he’d finish one. So we both actually did the final mix. The tracks are split between both of us, who mixed down what.
JK: That’s interesting. I always ask you about that when we’re talking about your collaborations and usually you did all the mixing. But this was additionally collaborative in that you finished some tracks and he finished some. What created the electronic drum ‘kit’ sound on ‘Jazz Me Down’?
CP: It was electro drums.
JK: But not the drum machines you used so much on previous releases?
CP: No. It’s a long dead and gone BOSS DR-55.
JK: ‘Loves To Do The Wild Thang’ is a bit different. It has a psychedelic edge, particularly due to the chanting.
CP: Yeah, ‘Loves To Do The Wild Thang’, people think we’re going to do a cover of ‘Wild Thing’. Minóy did the chants.
JK: ‘Straighten Me Out’ is another track I liked a lot. The droney buzzy sound reminded me of the cheesy sound of the spaceship in the old Flash Gordon serials.
CP: I think that was another shitty Casio (laughs).
JK: ‘Help Me’ was interesting because it actually had vocals with lyrics. I couldn’t make them out but there’s more going on than screaming and wailing. That’s a pretty wild track.
CP: You can’t make out the words. He ran them through reverb and whatever else. Minóy was at his prime in this era.
JK: I like the Bride Of Frankenstein cover. Did someone do that artwork for you?
CP: It’s from Famous Monsters Of Filmland magazine.