Several months back (maybe a year, I don't know) I was on this Industrial music kick, more a feverish obsession, educating myself in it's history from the 70s to the present. Things have a way of working in my favor (seldom) and now the Industrial, in it's many forms, is finding me. A lot of people don't dig that shit (you have to question your status as a music lover if you can't at least groove to early SPK or their [Graeme Revel mostly] Songs of Byzantine Flowers) and that's fine, but the argument that there's no talent required is bullshit. Michael, of Scab Queen recently hit me up,
"I wanted to drop you a line that Scab Queen has released a new album via split tape 'PM016' with Atlanta's Snowbride on Persistentmidnight 02.28.14. Our style consists of textural and harmonious explorations for guitar and cello and fits somewhere between the sound-art and tape/loop experiments of groups such as Cabaret Voltaire and This Heat and the free improvisation of players such as Leroy Jenkins, Derek Bailey and Lol Coxhill. Last year, scab queen released 4 EP's (BRAGS, released May 2013, features vocalist Leo Ashline of Austin TX's Street Sects, recently reviewed by Pitchfork as "an exciting new direction for heavy music"). For 2014 we've extended to the duo of Michael Lauden (8-string guitar) and Alec Lividitis (cello). Live, we utilize transistor radios, tape loops and FM transmitters as well as the live manipulation of video feedback projected on the stage-areas and sometimes across multiple monitors. On top of our instrumental/vocal loops, we have prepared tape loops and sample underlying audio from VHS tapes (mostly found footage, at Tea Club/murk daddy flex "genesis" listening party on 4/6 we used a tape simply labeled "London 1998"). For our live visual rig we utilize dueling signals from VHS camera & VCR, which is then projected on the stage-areas and across monitors. On top of our instrumental/vocal loops, we have prepared tape loops and sample underlying audio from VHS tapes (mostly found footage, at Tea Club/murk daddy flex "genesis" listening party on 4/6 we used a tape simply labeled "London 1998"). For our live visual rig we utilize dueling signals from VHS camera & VCR, which is then projected on the stage-areas and across monitors."
I know that was rather lengthy, but I didn't know how to regurgitate all that information in a more concise way, except to say that these guys are serious about what the hell they're doing. Well, well, Industrial artists that know how to play instruments (and I'm a huge fan of the cello, even though I know very little about music written for the cello, downright moved when modern bands throw it in the mix). I think my response to him was describing the music as "otherworldly". I guess I should elaborate. I went to Scab Queen's Bandcamp page, they have a shit ton of recordings and I did a shit ton of listening. "Otherwordly" just kind of scrapes the surface. A song popped into my head at some point doing that listening, The Creatures - Pluto Drive. It completely reminds me of that kind of other-worldliness. A lyric from the song goes, "I want to see Pluto, I want to have fun, I want to turn blue, under an alien sun"...that is Scab Queen. They are so otherworldly, they're not even in this solar system. Their ambient styled Industrial would make the perfect soundtrack to a movie set in the most alien of worlds. It would work well as Alice's caterpillar sits thoughtfully puffing on his opium. I've smoked opium and you don't need that shit, you need Scab Queen. These guys really could get a gig doing soundtrack as so many Industrial types have. I'm not sure how they do it, even though it's explained quite well, the execution is spot on. Ambient is a tough sell for me sometimes, I don't like the drone ambient, it's just too monotonous, but these guys are not drone, they're unfolding a musical story, slowly but deliberately. When I hit Michael back, I wanted to know what made the duo tick,
"I would describe our sound as heavily improvisational. I really like the idea that radio waves are all around us. I like the idea that constantly and consistently, we've been living our entire lives entangled in a field of invisible signals. We create loops not only from our instruments, but from whatever is playing over the AM/FM airwaves. I also have the ability to project my signals over-the-air via a modified home intercom system/FM transmitter."
All that talk and thought about Scab Queen and it wasn't until today that I gave Snowbride a whirl, but it was Michael of Scab Queen who I have been in touch with. I think it was someone's really good idea to put these bands together on a tape as they are very different, so you get a little variety. Snowbride is still under the greater umbrella of Industrial, but their compositions have more rhythmic structure (2 of the 3 songs), and harken back in a remote sense, to early New Wave (maybe it's the synth-y-ness). The vocals (there's no lyric) are dreamy and I think their overall soundtrack would be something a little more psychological. The songs don't unfold as much as permeate. Very enjoyable. As far as the tape as a whole, I'd say Georgia has more going on than you think. You can listen to you heart's content, Snowbride and Scab Queen. Below is a vid Scab Queen put together of one of the songs from the cassette...
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVKJPQ8bTUA]
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