This descriptive note begins with a thank you to Arvo Zylo and his work with the No Part of It label. Watching The Void: A Smattering of Panic Records & Tapes – Various Artists (1984-1990) has been resting in a small stack of compact discs sent to Lost in a Sea of Sound for a year and a half. Earlier this week i listened to Watching The Void, not just a fly through, but a real blank canvas ready for sound to be poured on kind of listen. This is the only way to properly begin comprehension on how fantastic this compilation really is. Raw, beautiful, thought provoking, innovative, creative, annoying and absolutely delightfully fun. To help understand, take fifteen minutes and listen to the longest track on the composition by Scott Marshall titled
Nearer To Thee My Void, Am I from 1984. The sonic flow from cacophony to tranquility in a low-fi recording medium is brilliant. Also, this is over forty years old now. This is an important note, everything in this release is at least thirty five years old, and other than some of the sampled voice recordings, A Smattering of Panic Records & Tapes could have been easily recorded now. In fact, the style and techniques used are still sought after attributes for many current sound artists today.
Watching The Void: A Smattering of Panic Records & Tapes – Various Artists (1984-1990) holds a lot of diversity. From screams and broken glass to ambient guitar wastelands, this is a true aural world where anything is possible. The balance between the noisy raw crashes and the stir of water in the wind is the most fascinating feature. Difficult to really describe every facet on the recording, there is close to seventy five minutes on this compact disc. I did not know about Scott Marshall, his pioneering events with the Chicago radio station WZRD and the live free form recording sessions of the “Voidwatches”. This release is true sonic history and more relevant to current sounds than it’s title implies.
Arvo Zylo is an excellent writer and has an excellent summary of Watching The Void on the bandcamp page. Also a link to and interview with Scott Marshall. Please read, listen and grow with this one. Compact discs are currently available.
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