Black Dice

styles: noise rock, indie rock
others: Boredoms, Merzbow

Beaches and Canyons
DFA, 2002
rating: 8.6
reviewer: mr p

After two albums that can be summed up with the word "violent," the members of Black Dice take a sharp left from the dark, aggressive domains to the peaceful sounds of the beach. But don't expect Yanni-laden tunes above a wash of contemporary chords; Black Dice offers an ethereal journey that will have your mind stimulated and body trembling. Like the Impressionists who painted to make an immediate visual impression, Black Dice similarly dab small strokes of sound to create stunning free-form compositions. The ambiguous melodies and off-kilter polyrhythms evoke a pictorial sensation of seabirds and other forms of nature, and the transcendence creates a natural milieu for your ears. Standout track "Things Will Never be the Same" relies on cymbal crescendos and alien noises to bring about its intense, conflicting decorum. Halfway into the song, you can hear what sounds like a baby crying, which later morphs into someone screaming in agony. At the climax, the cries are abruptly cut off, and the song falls into a loop of harsh electronics. It's an intense emotion that could never be paralleled with standard rock conventions. Beaches and Canyons is just one of those amazing albums that effortlessly sounds like no other-- definitely an experience for those looking to delve further into the heart of experimentation.

1. Seabird
2. Things Will Never be the Same
3. The Dream is Going Down
4. Endless Happiness
5. Big Drop

Cold Hands EP
Troubleman, 2001
rating: 8.0
reviewer: mr p

When I hear experimental artists such as Black Dice, I begin to question the whole process of songwriting. Can people actually calculate this kind of songwriting? Or is this just improvisation? A mixture of both, perhaps? It just boggles my mind to think that a group of people can actually create this music with or without mind-altering substances, let alone without questioning each other's sanity.

Cold Hands is Black Dice's latest release, following an eponymous full-length and a split EP with Erase Errata (all released on Troubleman-- a label run by Unwound). The band basks in the experimental domain, but what discerns them from other free-form experimental artists is their roots in hardcore and noise rock. Each song is a journey into the left-field sector of the music world, featuring everything from abrasive drums and piercing feedback, to unidentifiable noises and obtrusive static.

The opening title-track starts off with some clicks and clanks, almost like a mix between champagne glasses hitting one another and a wind-up toy. Gradually, mid-tone drones sneak their way in, accentuating the crystal clear treble of the clanking to an almost protruding quality. However, the minimalism ends here. The overbearing "Smile Friends" follows with manic drumming that defies any sort of time signature or conventional technique-- like a random hitting of tom-toms and cymbals. The high-end of the song is fleshed out with screeching feedback and fuzzed out droning; and what appears to be someone screaming into a microphone through some kind of distortion pedal makes its foray, but it is unclear whether it is vocals or some kind of weird electronic glitch. In fact, other than the percussive instruments, the origins of the other instruments are indistinguishable. "The Raven" follows in similar style to "Smile Friends," but proves a little more structured and continues for twice as long. The song is primarily a feedback-laden riff with a cacophonous stream of noise shooting through the speakers.

Finally, Cold Hands is closed with "Birthstone"-- a 10-minute rumination on more feedback, more cymbals, and more droning. Whatever register the feedback is in, it surely manages to drill at your head. If you listen to the song at a high volume, there is no way you can listen without tightening your brow in pain or abstain from twisting the volume knob down; the layers of feedback slice through the mix in an abrasive fashion. But despite this head-trip of noise, "Birthstone" proves to be the most interesting and, dare I say, most beautiful song on the EP. It's a welcome departure from the previous outings, as it is more subdued and drawn-out.

When I first listened to Cold Hands, I was actually dismissive and a bit annoyed. But with subsequent listens, each arcane noise turned into its own unique instrument, and the need to identify their origins became dross. Whether Black Dice creates the sounds with guitars, flutes, or banjoes, the fact remains that it's something they can definitely call their own, remaining consistent and insistent throughout its 22-minutes of rarely chartered territory.

1. Cold Hands
2. Smile Friends
3. The Raven
4. Birthstone