A world on fire by Vorsen
Singer-guitarist John Halvorsen has considerable prior form with the Gordons in the early 80s, generally considered the country’s loudest and a “sonically challenging” band, as the AudioCulture entry notes politely. He was also in the punishing Skeptics in the middle of that decade, then the intense Bailter Space in the 90s.
Given that, we might come to this album with expectations of the needle in the red zone and everything turned up to 11, “one louder”.
Certainly, this trio of Halverson, bassist Hayden Ellis and drummer Steve Cochrane deliver some sonic density and aggression, but these 12 songs are crafted into interesting shapes, like the unnervingly moody Seeds of Future, the eerie and cynical pop of the constrained A Whole New World and compelling songs like Event Horizon: “I’m on the outside looking in and I don’t see you any more”.
What binds these songs is a dyspeptic passion (“what happened to your mind?” on Memes for Brains), their economy and Halvorsen’s sense of desperation (“I’ve been livin’ in a dreamstate, livin’ from day to day”) as the clock ticks towards midnight while “we’re having the time of our lives”.
Although this is taut and emotionally feverish, the intensity of Halverson’s former bands – the Gordons’ “watch out, watch out” from Spik and Span comes to mind – is here channelled differently into this eco-political wake-up call.
A World on Fire indeed.
Apocalypse soon?
Parallelograms by Vor-Stellen
Vor-Stellen is a Flying Nun alumni supergroup of sorts, with Stephen Reay and Brendan Moran (of avoid!avoid, which explored abrasive sculptural sonics) and Jared Johanson (the trance-guitar band the Subliminals).
That combination of adjacent interests folds into Vor-Stellen, who create – on guitars, sequencers, bass, drums, piano, voice and various effects – four seductive pieces that evolve over a leisurely 12 minutes-plus, one on each side of the double vinyl.
Although the records allow the option of starting anywhere, the digital running order opens with Pollen Carrier, a gently pulsating piece that acts as an aural scene-setter into this world between mesmerising drone, exploratory art-rock and astral travel.
On the deftly improvised sonic landscape and constantly evolving dynamics of the hypnotic Grønland and the shimmering reserve of Voyager, with a disembodied vocal in the mid-ground, we’re transported to the world of space-rock.
Folding of the Time, which opens with a circular drum pattern, is the most assertive piece here as it heads towards the idea of innovative and expansive psychedelic rock as epitomised by Pink Floyd’s early instrumentals.
With other reference points in Can’s Tago Mago and experimental artists of the 70s, these pieces possess a beguiling inner beauty and echo the minimalist, repetitious approaches of Kraftwerk, Neu! and others on the kosmische musik/cosmic music axis.
It’s hard not to be seduced by Parallelograms as buzzing guitars and electronics gradually emerge and fade across these discrete pieces.
And the album cover of white plaster roughly applied to boards neatly reflects the contents – not immediately engaging, but once you focus and take in the details …
These albums are available digitally. Vor-Stellen’s Parallelograms is also on vinyl.x
