NORMAN RECORDS reviews!

The awesome folks at Norman Records graced us with some fantastic feedback! Check it out!

Panicsville
A Dragonfly For Each Corpse LP+7"

This record left our Brian feeling ecstatic.

Chicago noise polluters Panicsville have been on the fringes of the confrontational theatre circuit for years now, dressing up in latex and throwing shit at their audiences, kind of a bit like Gwar or something but with better sounds. This lovingly packaged LP & 7" set is not what I was expecting. Unsettling indeed but not a barrage of squealing frequencies or the aural equivalent of clay spiked with shards of glass. It's more the sound of someone trying to fix a witches bike in a leaky haunted shed at midnight. And what I do know is the sheer quality of this pressing allows the eerie sounds & frequencies on here to strike fear into your soul, to climb into your mind, to swim around your brain fluid lakes, to pollute your very being. They sound so (dead) ALIVE! Side two has a different vibe though, a slightly medieval or pagan quality to it. The bike is still getting fixed but this time it's just dawn, there's 3ft of mist on the lawn and now SUDDENLY there's half a dozen Aphex-style nymphs running round you, playing fierce power electronics at ear shredding levels out of big black rubber cased ghetto blasters. This is fantastic.


Nate Wooley
Trumpet/Amplifier LP

This record left our Brett feeling happy.

Everyone's well into big circles at the moment. Check the new Autechre album, Sunn's Monoliths and Dimensions, that No Age 12" and now this. Circles are pretty cool I guess, but personally I'm more diggin' the net form of the dodecahedron at the moment. What this guy's doing reminds me a wee bit of Florian Hecker, albeit with a completely different tool set. Here he spends half the LP exploring the pure sound capabilities of the trumpet in a series of crazy toots which'll have you baffled with disbelief and wide-eyed with wonder at what he's managing to generate. The other half has him fiddling with an amp as it begs for sweet mercy. As a listening experience this comes off more as an exploratory noise record than anything else as the beauty of it is in the discovery of, and envelopment in, surprising and original sounds. No bad thing as far as I'm concerned but don't go jumping in expecting to be whistling along..


Peeesseye + Talibam! 2xLP

This record left our Business Lady feeling happy.

Ok, here we got ourselves a collaborative effort from then insane improvers Talibam! and the Gothic Junk folk experimentalism of Peeesseye, both emperors of the NYC improv scene playing in all sorts of outfits including the outstanding Storm and Stress. Anyway, after years of mutual friendship and touring activity they decided to get together and rock some purist improv fun and the results are mint. Matt Mottel's skronking keyboard drives these sessions into unlikely territories with his funk influenced, distorted organ tones and Kevin Shea is on fine form here playing blistering drums dictating the ambiance and flow of each development in the tracks. A rare vocal contribution brings things to ahead on the opener and makes for a lively intro to a consistently interesting, if slightly perplexing improv wigout. Should also note the significant contribution from the Peeeseye boys who provide an ambient framework of synth tones and guitars from which new ideas evolve. Definitely one of my favourite Talibam! albums i've heard so far and an excellent introduction to the power of Peeesseye. Please observe.