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Solid Eye/Joseph Hammer
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Solid Eye/Hammer review that appears in the September 2004 issue of the WIRE
Solid Eye - ‘Voyage To See What’s On The Bottom'
Melon Expander 001
Joseph Hammer - ‘Dynasty Suites’
Melon Expander 002
By Tom Recchion
There’s a loop in “Sleeping Beauty’s Castle” at Disneyland that is astounding. It supports a tableau of the three fairies escaping. Sounding full of drama, tension, mystery and of the moment. It’s assumed that spectators will walk through quickly enough to not hear the repetition. But if you stand in one spot and take the time to listen and let others pass, something more wonderful is revealed and you are transported.
“VTSWOTB” is the fourth Solid Eye disc. They’ve become one of the keenest progenitors of sonic fabric and audio mayhem. Avoiding shorter pieces in favor of five untitled chapters that flow from one to the next – surprisingly just as it was recorded. Their new release finds the group at their most restrained and focused.
The whole thing feels like a recording made in a cheap carnival ride. The type of dark ride you see at transient county fairs and festivals. But this is no field recording. They make every sound. The rubbing, clinking and clattering mechanics of the pod on its tracks, the wheels rolling on the floor, the chintzy motor, the flip-clop of the not-really-scary site gags all painted in black light Day-Glow paint that pop out at you as you pass by, as well as the disembodied screams and chatter of patrons which are somewhere further ahead of you in the dark. Then there’s the soundtrack which is played on multiple speakers spread throughout the winding path which has been assembled by some toothless carnie whose source are old horror sound effect records and his girlfriend screaming into an old funky tape recorder. There’s all this sound and essence surrounding you.
Each member’s signature moves are in crisp evidence. Rick Potts, co-founding member of the LAFMS and Human Hands, has a personal touch full of humor. Moving from his “hinged-neck guitar”, motors, metal clay scraper and trusty Steiner Parker synth Rick demonstrates his constant search for new sounds from his familiar instruments, some of his own invention.
Steve Thomsen, ex-member of the highly underrated rock band Monitor and founder of World Imitation, the art collective from the San Fernando Valley who were kindred spirits to Pasadena’s LAFMS, plays keyboards, his usual instrument of choice. Influenced by desert landscapes, the bioluminescence of rock and deep-water fish and paranormal phenomenon are prominently featured. It’s the first time his contributions have been heard so front and center. Steve provides the group’s lyrical atmospherics which seem to hold everything together, since what he contributes often washes underneath the others. He’s the link out of technology and into nature.
“Dynasty Suites” is the long awaited first solo release by the third member of Solid Eye, the tape loopist, Joseph Hammer. Throughout the years, beginning with Points Of Friction, Hammer has perfected a technique which utilizes the tape-loop and recorder to its fullest. While holding the loop in his gloved hand he’s constantly manipulating the tape itself, moving it over the heads allowing fragments of material he feeds the machine from his laptop so that different parts of the loop are swabbed with sound, the playback head then makes audible the evolving dabs of material picked up by the recorder. It’s the audio equivalent to a billboard that peeling away after being weathered, revealing partial glimpses of what was once featured.
Contact address: info@melonexpander.com
Mitchell Brown – Den Mother
Melon Expander 001
Joseph Hammer - ‘Dynasty Suites’
Melon Expander 002
By Tom Recchion
There’s a loop in “Sleeping Beauty’s Castle” at Disneyland that is astounding. It supports a tableau of the three fairies escaping. Sounding full of drama, tension, mystery and of the moment. It’s assumed that spectators will walk through quickly enough to not hear the repetition. But if you stand in one spot and take the time to listen and let others pass, something more wonderful is revealed and you are transported.
“VTSWOTB” is the fourth Solid Eye disc. They’ve become one of the keenest progenitors of sonic fabric and audio mayhem. Avoiding shorter pieces in favor of five untitled chapters that flow from one to the next – surprisingly just as it was recorded. Their new release finds the group at their most restrained and focused.
The whole thing feels like a recording made in a cheap carnival ride. The type of dark ride you see at transient county fairs and festivals. But this is no field recording. They make every sound. The rubbing, clinking and clattering mechanics of the pod on its tracks, the wheels rolling on the floor, the chintzy motor, the flip-clop of the not-really-scary site gags all painted in black light Day-Glow paint that pop out at you as you pass by, as well as the disembodied screams and chatter of patrons which are somewhere further ahead of you in the dark. Then there’s the soundtrack which is played on multiple speakers spread throughout the winding path which has been assembled by some toothless carnie whose source are old horror sound effect records and his girlfriend screaming into an old funky tape recorder. There’s all this sound and essence surrounding you.
Each member’s signature moves are in crisp evidence. Rick Potts, co-founding member of the LAFMS and Human Hands, has a personal touch full of humor. Moving from his “hinged-neck guitar”, motors, metal clay scraper and trusty Steiner Parker synth Rick demonstrates his constant search for new sounds from his familiar instruments, some of his own invention.
Steve Thomsen, ex-member of the highly underrated rock band Monitor and founder of World Imitation, the art collective from the San Fernando Valley who were kindred spirits to Pasadena’s LAFMS, plays keyboards, his usual instrument of choice. Influenced by desert landscapes, the bioluminescence of rock and deep-water fish and paranormal phenomenon are prominently featured. It’s the first time his contributions have been heard so front and center. Steve provides the group’s lyrical atmospherics which seem to hold everything together, since what he contributes often washes underneath the others. He’s the link out of technology and into nature.
“Dynasty Suites” is the long awaited first solo release by the third member of Solid Eye, the tape loopist, Joseph Hammer. Throughout the years, beginning with Points Of Friction, Hammer has perfected a technique which utilizes the tape-loop and recorder to its fullest. While holding the loop in his gloved hand he’s constantly manipulating the tape itself, moving it over the heads allowing fragments of material he feeds the machine from his laptop so that different parts of the loop are swabbed with sound, the playback head then makes audible the evolving dabs of material picked up by the recorder. It’s the audio equivalent to a billboard that peeling away after being weathered, revealing partial glimpses of what was once featured.
Contact address: info@melonexpander.com
Mitchell Brown – Den Mother
