I’m frequently tantalized by the conceptual possibilities behind a record’s title, particularly in absence of a direct interpretation to lessen our unawareness in that regard. Then again, “liberation” is a notion whose urgency is gradually being overlooked in spite of its numerous historical and emotional ramifications. I like to fantasize about Bob Bellerue choosing this term to offer a somewhat repressed individual a chance to entirely erase the contents of a basically pure, but ultimately weak mind stained and infected by someone’s morbid will and ambiguous behaviors. Not an infrequent occurrence, nowadays.
And so, here we are with a double vinyl of “tactile noise” – as per the press release’s narrative – by a man who has already shown his abilities in the field. Music Of Liberation is principally built upon rigorous stratifications of obstreperous frequencies revealing a wealth of rich harmonic particles inside their aggressiveness (just examine the first movement). Or else, those masses hush the brain into that “active stupor” where the perspectives of reality are still kept under check, but the mechanisms of reason detour towards the recognition of a different truth.
Before anyone asks, let me tell you that this is thoroughly composed material, denoting long hours of assemblage and fine tuning. We’re marine miles distant from the low-budget punkiness of certain noise acts; in this context one can separate the wavering partials, perceive the shifting lights, feel the tremors well within the nape of the neck. In those moments the essential hypothesis shines brightly – including the so-called “harsh” sections – as the elapsing of time vanishes into a new form of consciousness.
While the aforementioned press blurb refers to Organum and Nurse With Wound as comparative entities, I won’t be shocked if this article gets also relished by fans of uncompromising artists such as Jason Lescalleet and Joe Colley. Not so much for a practical “similarity” in terms of sheer sonority, but for the evident painstaking care defining every minute of the album. Frankly speaking, it’s pretty hard to find an Elevator Bath release that does not comply to these quality standards.
MASSIMO RICCI. TOUCHING EXTREMES. 