- Five untitled tracks
Of the three Angry Eelectric finger reworked versions this one is my favourite. It is also the most heavily manipulated of the three. Cyclobe (Simon Norris and Stephen Thrower) have created a stunning work of digital manipulation and compositional beauty. Like the version from Jim O’Rourke there are no titles for the five indexed tracks only a general subtitle which for this part of the set which is Paraparaparallelagrammatica.
The first track is a mysterious space jam of distorted spectral electronics and elements from the apocalyptic start of the original material. The ping pong ball effects make an appearance too. Straight away you can tell that Cyclobe have really gone for this whole house, changing as much as they could without rerecording the whole thing. The crashing and explosions from the original mix are cut-up and ejected at you in a quite alarming manner, juxtaposing this with treated synths and the digital squelches that Cyclobe used on their last album The Visitors. There is very little that is recognisable from the original mix, much of it is wrapped in a web of digital mayhem that turns distinct sounds into warped hypereal textures and noise. Scattered among this are fragments of drone, Tibet’s so called apocalyptic guitar from the original mix, and even voice recording added by Cyclobe. It a symphony of noise and I like it damn it.
The second piece builds slowly around what could be a transformed version of the Man with the Woman face drone but I could be wrong. Here elements from the delicate factory soundscape are mixed with newly recorded material from Cyclobe. Hurdy Gurdy, more voice and squeals are added to an already excellent part of the material, creating a highly complex mixture of electro-acoustic and pure digital composition. The mid section of this ten minute piece revolves around the springy metallic sounds from the original material mixed with disturbed vocalisations and more warped Cyclobe drones. The third piece jumps out at you with pulsing drums and Xhol Caravans flute and Sax work. To their credit Cyclobe have added their own instrumentation to these parts creating a lovely mix of Xhols laid back groves and Cyclobes psychotic cut and splice. Everything again being smothered in a layer of noise and synthetic joy. Repeat listens yield detail after detail. At about five minutes after the noise has died down an almost choral refrain rises from the ashes to accompany Stapleton’s bicycle chain and drones. Fans of Coil will no doubt love some of the melody’s employed by Cyclobe over this and the other tracks. Many times the material having the distinct feel of some of Coils last live appearances and material circa 2001. Track four is identical to the taster track found on the Splitch Cock One World Serpent release of Angry Eelectric finger.
The final track is a slight revisit to the first track with it’s focus on the tolling bell sound and bicycle sample. But here Cyclobe have added many extra percussive and textural elements, including extra bells recorded in a church in Poland, and weird childlike voices in the background. It’s the most subtle and foreboding of the five pieces on offer and perhaps the one that most deviates from the feel of the original material. The track plays out to a simple piano melody around which creepy effects and Stapleton’s drones duck and dive.
Cyclobe have done the project justice with this release, their production, composition and all round effort make this without doubt the standout of the three versions.
