HR160 - Seemen - Subatomic Nurse - C46 — 1989
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Side A:
OPP Floating Glently High in Trees Get on Board Side B: Sterilizing Principles Pap Semear Breathing Sensation Unsound (The Devils) |
REVIEW by Jerry Kranitz
Seemen are from Austin, Texas and consist of the fun pseudonym trio of Foam Core, Biff Bon Jovi, and Race Masters. Subatomic Nurse was recorded at Austin Media Arts on April 20, 1989. I like the tape credits ways of saying all improvised: “Never rehearsed or thought of before.”
There’s a lot of interesting variety across the eight tracks on this C46. ‘OPP’ opens the set with a minimal swirly soundscape pattern. ‘Floating Glently’ features darkly atmospheric Industrial music with a lightly militant rhythmic pulse. The vocals are in the background and imperceptible, as if just part of what becomes an Industrial psychedelic surge. ‘High in Trees’ is like a Residents soundtrack, combining tinkling melodies, ambience, birds, and insects. ‘Get on Board’ sounds like a tribal ceremony field recording, with chants and drumming that eventually melt into drones, and eerie ambience.
‘Sterilizing Principles’ is a sound and mood parade that rolls through Industrial, oscillating UFO, bubbling, droning, and heavenly atmosphere. ‘Pap Semear’ blends jazz drumming, creepy voice samples, and angular melodies in a cauldron of collage fun. At over 11 minutes, ‘Breathing Sensation’ is by far the longest track of the set and surprises by rocking out. It’s an experimental noise-punk freakout with rhythms that are variously kinetic and tribal, propelling a flowing cacophony of voices, blasts, squalls, machinery, whistles, and swirls. My favorite of the set. And ‘Unsound (The Devils)’ winds things down with a cavernous, limbo like stew of soundscapes, pulsations, and drones.
Seemen are from Austin, Texas and consist of the fun pseudonym trio of Foam Core, Biff Bon Jovi, and Race Masters. Subatomic Nurse was recorded at Austin Media Arts on April 20, 1989. I like the tape credits ways of saying all improvised: “Never rehearsed or thought of before.”
There’s a lot of interesting variety across the eight tracks on this C46. ‘OPP’ opens the set with a minimal swirly soundscape pattern. ‘Floating Glently’ features darkly atmospheric Industrial music with a lightly militant rhythmic pulse. The vocals are in the background and imperceptible, as if just part of what becomes an Industrial psychedelic surge. ‘High in Trees’ is like a Residents soundtrack, combining tinkling melodies, ambience, birds, and insects. ‘Get on Board’ sounds like a tribal ceremony field recording, with chants and drumming that eventually melt into drones, and eerie ambience.
‘Sterilizing Principles’ is a sound and mood parade that rolls through Industrial, oscillating UFO, bubbling, droning, and heavenly atmosphere. ‘Pap Semear’ blends jazz drumming, creepy voice samples, and angular melodies in a cauldron of collage fun. At over 11 minutes, ‘Breathing Sensation’ is by far the longest track of the set and surprises by rocking out. It’s an experimental noise-punk freakout with rhythms that are variously kinetic and tribal, propelling a flowing cacophony of voices, blasts, squalls, machinery, whistles, and swirls. My favorite of the set. And ‘Unsound (The Devils)’ winds things down with a cavernous, limbo like stew of soundscapes, pulsations, and drones.