One of the stand out records of last year was BC35 Vol. 1, an album lovingly curated from a multi-day live session held at the legendary BC Studios under the auspices of veteran producer Martin Bisi. The album, released on CD and Vinyl (and best heard on vinyl) via Italian label Bronson Recordings was a remarkable achievement, mixing Martin’s overarching vision with spontaneous collaborations from members of Alice Doughnut, Sonic Youth, Swans, Foetus and many more. The album deftly evoked, without directly referencing, the fiercely innovative music produced in the 90s (the likes of which, aside from the aforementioned artists’ own albums, was celebrated with compilations such as Teriyaki Asthma) and so it is with much delight that we received a copy of Vol. 2 for review.
Packaged, as with Vol. 1, on 12” vinyl with a bonus 7”, poster and download card, Vol. 2 is a perfect example of record label and artist getting it right in terms of presentation and fan service. Whether it is the cover art serving as a counterpoint to the original, or the way that the limited version features silver vinyl in contrast to the original’s gold, such attention to detail does not go unnoticed or unappreciated and it makes the set all the more desirable. Better still, the album features clear liner notes explaining the line up for each composition and adding a touch of background detail, perfect to read whilst listening to the album.
Opening the album, save Sludgie the whale of Gowanus (unbelievably based on the true story of a whale who became trapped in the local canal), sees Bisi joined by Bob Bert (ex-Sonic Youth), Alyse Lamb (Parlor Walls) and members of Art Gray Noizz Quintet for a stabbing, no wave piece that recalls the coruscating might of Sonic Youth’s confusion is sex with elements of sonic death incorporated into the winding guitar figures and early Butthole Surfers in the spoken word passages. An eerie piece, it gives way to the doom-laden post punk of Up against the wall, which sees all the members of Live Skull reunited for the first time under the banner of New Old Skull. The sound of Killing Joke and Amebix filtered through the New York underground, the icy synths underpin semi-spoken vocals delivered as poetry, conjuring images of an urban cityscape transformed by corporate greed. The stuttering noise of Tina combines Swans and Cop Shoot Cop under the banner Excop, a searing assault introduced by a sample evoking the spirit of toxic masculinity as an unseen voice tells us to man up. Brutal, yet capable of deft twists and dynamic shifts, Tina is an album highlight that recalls Swans’ soundtracks for the blind. A metaphysical number inspired by Drunvalo Melchizedek appears next in the form of the beautiful Lumarian, which cleverly segues out of its predecessor. With vocals from Jeannie Fry, it’s an aching, post-rock track that offers up an oasis of tranquillity after the ferocious noise found elsewhere, or what Martin Bisi might refer to as a palette cleanser, although the guitars of Diego Ferri and Andrea Havis explode into life towards the track’s ecstatic conclusion. It is further evidence that this is an album and no mere compilation, with careful thought gone into constructing a sonic journey for the listener. Another BC supergroup is formed as members of Lydia Lunch’s band join forces with Andy Hawkins of Blind Idiot God and Laura Ortman for down the ladder, up the snake, a suitably serpentine track based around the primitive tribalism of Bob Bert’s instantly recognisable rhythms. The first side concludes with BC Breakdown a three-piece jam that pits fx-laden harmonica with the more traditionally-rock instrumentation of drums and bass for what can only be described as circus-funk, the wild excursions of the cruelly distorted harmonica nailed down hard by tough, proto-funk bass that grinds and lurches against the rhythm.
Side two opens with the wildcard weirdness of glass of lunch that name is king performed by Lauds string ensemble. A churning drone that eschews key for an eerie ambience that recalls Eliot Goldenthal’s creepy soundtrack work for Alien 3. It serves, in much the same way as JG Thirwell’s piece on the first record, as a prelude for what’s still to come, and resets the listener’s experience of the record up to this point. Although beauty may not be the first term to come to mind, it certainly fits with Rainy day in Bern, a piece of creeping loveliness that sees Dan Kaufman and John Bollinger (of Barbez) conjure up a gossamer-fine melody interlaced with reverb-drenched psychedelia. The bizarre Ootapa brings together members of Swans and Cop Shoot Cop for a track that, once again, invokes the spirit of early Butthole Surfers with its funky underpinnings, squelchy synths and off-kilter vocals. It’s refreshingly weird and yet strangely addictive, as if the band have deconstructed the secret of pop music’s earworm proclivities and filtered them through art-rock’s outré excursions. Tidal Channel are back with X dressing at the radar base, a mid-paced piece built predominantly around synth that suffers from an obnoxiously loud vocal that sacrifices nuance for an affected irony that grates on the senses. Built from the same improvisation that gave us Denton’s dive on Vol. 1, Let us be features only Dave W on guitars, building an eerie drone that would not sound out of place on a Spiritualized record. It sets a striking contrast with the rumbling, digital scree of Four, which builds from a barely coherent rhythmic pulse into a full-blown industrial nightmare. And so we come to the end. One of the great highlights of the first album was the sultry performance of Ajda The Turkish Queen who, happily, returns here with Bobby’s Car to close the set. Another piece of almost hypnotic beauty, Bobby’s car is the perfect way to bring the album to an end, allowing all the experimentation and apocalyptic noise white outs to fade against a performance of simple, naked emotion.
Although the record is pretty much perfect as it is, as with the first album, the 7” bonus disc is a mini-highlight in its own right. A separate entity from the main piece, it gives us two additional performances culled from the sessions. First of all, members of Alice Doughnut return to deliver New York Exit The Hell Out Of Grumphs, a groaning mess of psychedelic noise that, interestingly, works as well at 33 rpm as it does at 45. Ecstatic noise is the watchword here, and it’s easy to see why the track was kept separate, as it would have skewed the delicate balance of material too far into the realms of chaos, whereas, in its own setting, it feels perfect and unique. The B side brings together the rhythm section of Of Cabbages and Kings with Andy Hawkins and Laura Ortman for a similarly harrowing assault on the senses. Echoing noise held down by viscous bass and jazzy percussion spews forth from the speakers and the end result once more sees memories of sonic death’s unholy excursions into the ether to find true sonic Nirvana.
BC 35 Vol. 2 is every bit as diverse, every bit as exciting and every bit as adventurous as its predecessor. It is a group of like-minded and talented individuals celebrating a studio, the legacy of which is beyond dispute. There’s an intensity to the performances that, even at the remove of listening at home, is undeniable and the careful editing and mixing that has gone into the creation of the final album is nothing short of genius at work. There are not many albums comprised of so many disparate artists that can hook the listener and keep them there from start to finish, but BC 35 Vol. 2 is one such record. Highlights abound (although they’ll vary from listener to listener depending on their tastes), but for my money, it’s a toss up between Tina and Bobby’s Car, the latter thanks, once again, to a wonderful performance from Adja and her band. 9.5
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