REVIEW: amptext + bass / Blk w bear - split CD, 2011

amptext + bass / Blk w bear split CD 2011

AMPTEXT + BASS / BLK W BEAR
"Nine Strings" / "Ten Outtakes & Demos"
Split CD, 2011Cohort Records
The first track by amptext + bass, "The Ghosts Of Silent Radios," sounds like about four different scores by John Cage played at the same time, which, for all I know, it might be. It sounds like a person playing a cello. There's a bit of messing-around with a handheld tape recorder (I assume), the air in the room. An old telephone in a box, or something. Hard core avant garde. "Bodyment 1" and "Bodyment 2"  continue with the same template, while the final two pieces are less tape-menacing and more live performances, if that description makes any sense. The cello playing is deft and scrapey, and the pieces include lots of silence.  Nice. The tracks by Blk w bear that follow are of the ambient noise ilk, or dark ambience. "Valve Languere [Vasoline Mix]" includes some interesting samples and loops which gradually fade across the inner ear thing. "Reade Lactid" sounds like some sampler abuse, of which I approve. "Salt Water Coughing" finishes up sounding like a pipe organ being devoured by a poltergeist. This deeply experimental split CD is available now. Handmade covers, the whole deal. John Gore really does this sh1t up.
Ian C Stewart