Martyn Pepperell
A killer survey of New Zealand's contemporary underground. From noisy-dance to synth drone, a lot of really great wonk is represented here by a roster of talented sound workers.
Gavin Hellyer
Another Bruce Russell purchase, this one including an experimental track with Peter Wright. Overall, this compilation provides a very interesting listen.
Favorite track: escalator lifting the cobbles.
A compilation of contemporary New Zealand noise and drone, showcasing established and younger artists from around the country. Released to celebrate the launch of End of the Alphabet Records in September 2014.
Volcanic Tongue on the compilation: "Incredible new very limited proto-Tokyo Flashback scale compilation that attempts to take the temperature of the New Zealand underground circa now, complete with original artwork by Campbell Kneale: this one subverts and bolsters the NZ destructo rock/home-bled concrete tape work tradition, marrying tracks from heavyweights like Bruce Russell and Peter Wright, Campbell Kneale’s Our Love Will Destroy The World and Antony Milton alongside major new voices that range from obliterated almost Omit-scale homemade electronics, evacuate beats and splintered vocals through roaring drone and end of the world soundings courtesy of killer new breed voices like Mischancerie, ETRC aka Shannon Reed, i.ryoko, Oona Verse and Noel Meek. Highly recommended."
Undertheradar: "new Wellington-based label End Of The Alphabet Records’ debut compilation NoFi Rainbow . . . provides an accessible view of the exploratory talent percolating in the bowl-like city. It's a confident opening salvo for the fledgling label, with eight tracks by a mix of emerging and established artists running from cracked electronic beat workouts, to celestial vocal drones, to wobbly ecstatic outsider-pop and beyond . . . Throughout NoFi Rainbow there’s a distinct emphasis on texture, the artists generally eschew digital crispness for a more brittle or fuzzy feel. There’s a strong sense of depth and density - crucial elements bubble in the background to generate fractal-like surface ripples, which destabilise and recontextualise the whole . . . You’ll be hearing a lot more from EOTA, best get on the ground floor with NoFi Rainbow."
VanguardRed Magazine: "Mischancerie and Oona Verse provide ruptured space-age club sounds draped in garage retrofuturism, while ETRC and i.ryoko play around with atmospheric beats and fuzzy soundtrack stylings. Meanwhile, more established names like Antony Milton, Our Love Will Destroy The World and Bruce Russell and Peter Wright, continue to do what they’ve long done so well, sonically essay on the exploratory powers of sound work. My personal favourite inclusion however, would have to be a sleek and shimmering synth dronescape crafted by Noel Meek. Dystopian-yet-optimistic, it seems to ask the question, what lies beyond the end of the alphabet?"
credits
released September 13, 2014
Features Our Love Will Destroy the World (Campbell James Kneale), Antony Milton, Bruce Russell and Peter Wright, Mischancerie (Fergus Nelson Moores), Oona Verse (Bek Coogan), Noel Meek, i.ryoko (Thomas Lambert) and ETRC (Shannon Reed).
supported by 11 fans who also own “NoFi Rainbow Vol. 1”
A couple of fine rumbling atmospheric pieces from the legendary Dead C man. I like 2 slightly better because the sound conjures an extra darkness which I reckon lends itself just that bit more to the overall feel of the work. Gavin Hellyer
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