Currently checking out irr. app. (ext.)'s latest release called
The Other Side Is Blank.
I had ordered this direct from Mathew Waldron, and I gotta' say this guy is top notch! Not only did he package the records I ordered in the best way I've ever had any sent to me--you could tell it was done with loving care--but when I wrote to Matt and thanked him for getting everything to me safe and sound, and mentioned that I wouldn't be able to listen to the records for awhile yet until I get my turntable back, well, he sent me MP3 files of Blank so I didn't have to wait. Freakin' good guy points for sure!
First, the packaging of this limited to 100 copies release is absolutely gorgeous. It is beautiful in design and execution and lovely to behold! Enclosed are a couple of sweet looking prints and some really slick inserts. The whole collection of goodies
can be seen here. I'm a sucker for nicely or uniquely packaged records, and this is certainly a prize.
The music itself is excellent. I've several of irr. app. (ext.)'s releases, and have written before about how much I enjoy his work with sound, and this release has not let me down. Indeed, I'd say that it's some very good work on his part, perhaps a little darker than some of his other stuff, if that's possible, heh. Lots of unique sounds with probably a splash of field recordings: it would be a real treat to see Matt perform live as I guarantee this isn't merely all done on a laptop (or electronically) but probably employs creative instrumentation along with recorded and manipulated sources. Like I swear to god I'm hearing train horns in amongst the dark cacophony of sound. If this music was inspired by a dream Matt had, it certainly sounds as if I'm listening to some dim recess of a sleeping mind mired in a foggy train yard of unsettled dreams. And, geez, that sounded like a dog growling or snarling somewhere in the fog, perhaps warning the sleeping mind away from this unnameable intersection of subconscious tracks, but then it becomes clearer as the sawing of, well, something, that ends in a splash--presumably as the end of whatever is being sawn drops into some basin of liquid. The sawing and the splashing continues as the nightmare station fades away. Where the fuck have we ended up? Heh.
Seriously, this is some really inspired sound, and, yeah, I'd even hazard that it's his best stuff so far.
Pretty happy I tracked down and procured a copy before I'd be forced to buy one from some reseller on eBay or Discogs who'd jack the price. Ah-yup, in checking back to Matt's site,
The eie Consumer Emporium, there are no copies left, but I paid $40 for it: two sellers on Discogs are asking $75 and $150 respectively, and I came across a copy on eBay for $55, which prompted me to track it down in the first place.
I'll have to get off my ass and do a follow up to the Q & A I started with Matt back in November of last year. It started off as some curious questions I had for him, but he ended up providing some pretty great answers that deserve some follow up questions.
Anyway, yeah, great fuckin' record(s)!