A week or so ago, an anonymous correspondence, pertaining to js heaven. The title: Antimusic dilemma. Its author was the enigmatically named BuboTucoTumbo, who is a painter turned sound artist, looking for some insight on the electricity flowing through his veins and out his fingers. I can relate to the 'What have i done?' feeling of curiosity, awkwardness, pride, shame, fear, lust that comes from channeling the air, creating bizarre soundscapes, immaterial cinema firing through synapses.
On Roomfield Recordings we find three recordings clocking in at 12 minutes each, filled with honeybee electrical impulses, rootless granular drone, flickers of speech, field recordings, knocks bumps and scrapes. The overall effect is monochromatic, stark, extreme, silhouetted. It seems psychological; the drifting drone reminds me of being unable to concentrate, and having a broken tape loop in yr mind, that won't let you sleep. The pulsing electrostatic makes for a calming, analog influence in the miasma, tactile, familiar, as well as providing some cohesion to the tracks. The feeling i get when listening to this is of listening to early industrial music and tape culture, blind anonymous transmissions from a nocturnal realm; esoteric names, very little data. Tapes found at the bargain bin, or lost in a warehouse. Dusty, subjective, crumbling.
Listening to BuboTucoTumbo creates a potent air, like rich incense. It breathes and swells, particularly when one is alone. While most dark ambient, industrial, or experimental music makes you feel like yr in a slasher flick, like the guy with an ice pick is hiding behind the door, Bubo's music is more surreal, more artsy. More about the blurred lines, the grey zones. Its like a Brothers Quay full-length, rendered to tape. The odd rustlings and bumpings make it seem like something is happening, but yr not sure what it is, and the ubiquity of the electrical hum gives it an air of reminiscence, embodying the nervous system and its mysteries.
The question i ask, every time i come across a piece of media, whether its something i come across myself, or if somebody points something out to me is, do i like this? Do i enjoy listening to this? If i were to stumble upon this in a store, or on a friend's shelf, would i listen? I've had a number of atmospheric days listening to this recording, moving around the house like a specter, in some electrical zen somnambulism, listening through the floor boards, listening through the vents. It makes for pleasant company, and it works as both wallpaper music as well as active listening. I find it to be more effective when yr paying attention to it, there's a lot of nuances, and like with most 'experimental' music, it is best played moderately loud, to pick up on the details. Also, be advised, depending on who you live with, this music will most likely creep out yr roommates. Stacked up against more established dark ambient/noise musicians such as Wolf Eyes, Lustmord, Nurse With Wound, Non, it holds water. There is nothing incidental about this music, it has weight and gravity. It sounds good. S/he claims that these compositions are, 'quite primitive, and without aesthetic.' I would argue that artists are poor judges of their own creations, especially when one worships interesting sounds. I DEFINITELY hear aesthetic in this work.
I am intrigued and excited by this discovery. I like that he's just making sounds, with no career motivations or status to burn. He (?) (i'm not even sure if its a he) is just invoking visions, and doesn't understand them, so feels the need to put them outside of him/herself. S/he was even very humble and non-assuming, when contacting me, not expecting me to go through the canon. As such, i probably will.
I'm very pleased to have RoomField Recordings in my life, and the cavalcade of sounds to come. You can expect to hear more from BubuTucoTumbo here at Js Heaven. In the meantime, you can also get the rest at the Antimusic blog:
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