Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Chris Cochrane & Stuart Popejoy: Geologic Time


In the mood for some minimalist psychedelic drones? Then Geologic Time by the guitar/bass duo of Chris Cochrane & Stuart Popejoy is just what the doctor ordered. This is certainly not your father’s psychedelia. Starting with their live improvisations, the pair applied all sorts of electronic post-production. Together, the noise quotient and the continually varied swell of Eemian hit the sweet spot of unfettered electronic improvisation, with the resulting sound somewhere between the roar of a jet engine and uncontrolled feedback. I’m hooked. While Tractored Out offers more of a give and take between Cochrane and Popejoy instead of the undifferentiated mass of Eemian, the effect is similarly unsettling. When Date Night With the Kids continually threatens to spiral out of control, the basic stuttering pulse underneath it all just manages to holds things together. The title track, at just over ten minutes, is the longest piece of the six tracks. This varied series of groans, shrieks, whoops and burbles lies atop a bed of dark, sludgy drones, creating a brutal and uncompromising soundscape. The relatively brief Aesthete’s Foot hinges on a back forth movement between two notes, shaped by variations in intensity and attack. What To Do closes the set with an urgent blast of sound that comes close to bursting apart before fading back into silence. Played loud, Geologic Time is a good way to clear out a party; listened to on headphones, it’ll give your head a real scrubbing. Either way, this is one release that won’t be ignored.
Infrequent Seams (digital release); Chris Cochrane (g) Stuart Popejoy (b); prob. Brooklyn, NY, no dates specified; Eemian/ Tractored Out/ Date Night With the Kids/ Geologic Time/ Aesthete's Foot/ What To Do; 36:24. infrequentseams.com


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