Vital Weekly reviewed 3 of Debila Records' releases.
GOVERNMENT ALPHA – AFTERLIFE IS WARPED (3″CDR by Debila Records)
GEN 26 – GENE FARM (3″CDR by Debila Records)
BROTHER OF JUDO – ALL THE THINGS YELLOW (3″CDR by Debila Records)
Here we have three three-inch CDRs from one of the major contemporary
outposts of the noise scene, Slovenian imprint Debila Records. The first
comes from Japanese noise legend Government Alpha (Yoshida Yasutoshi),
who has maintained an enviably steady pace of releases since the
mid-nineties. ‘Afterlife is Warped’ is consistent with the blips I’ve
heard from Yasutoshi’s grandiose back-catalogue: squirreling spirals of
mid-range harsh noise that flit and tumble with epileptic abruptness.
It’s harsh but not vicious – more in line with the playful abundance of
Boredoms than the scene of bloodied noise denizens that envisage their
listeners decaying in subbasements. At thirty-two copies, this is one of
those titillating collectors items that is worth scratching someone’s
eyes out to get a paw on.
‘Gene Farm’ captures another grizzled veteran at work: Gen 26 is the
noise project of Matjaž Galičič, one of the precious few who built the
Slovenian scene from the ground up – including founding both Abnormal
Tapes and Fuck-U-Tapes. His mini-CDR also worships the middle range of
the sound spectrum, but he’s replaced Yasutoshi’s irascible caterwauling
with a rigid Harsh Noise Wall. As Vomir foretold, there is no
progression nor dynamics here, except for the occasional, short-lived
drop to a different frequency; instead the (dis)pleasure lies in being
subjected to stiff-lipped, disciplined auditory abuse for just over
seventeen minutes. Prepare to be drained by track’s end – if you can
make it that far.
Last up is Brother of Judo’s ‘All the Things Yellow,’ which is the most
unpredictable of the batch. Four short tracks feature rapidly permuting
abrasion, two of them rendered in full fleshy form, the others presented
as if you’re hearing them through a VoIP line. But
“Disremembering-Autodidact” is the key item. At ten minutes, it devotes
its first half to a mysterious field-recording drone, gently lulling you
into a strange sort of peace, before abruptly thundering into a stanza
of messy noise buttressed by the ululations of a pornographic actress
being either pleasured or filleted. Like most good noise, it generates a
sense of tension and acts on it. (MT)