Without reading any info about the Tear imprint and neglecting to read up on a press release (usually attached to any review material), it comes as a pleasant surprise to discover Tear, based in Oakland California. The compilation at hand features artwork and design by Raymond and Leonard Bessemer; hues of grey are brushed against soft lines that could represent a ceiling and/or window. It’s an unobtrusive looking disc that compiles 13 tracks ranging from guitar-driven experiments through distinctive electronic windows of sound. To describe the contents within, it might be important to state that variances are the central focus.
Thesubletter’s guitar flickering on “Stubborn” nurture’s a minimal approach, as does Vela’s “Varren Shores.” The R2D2-styled drum’n bass rhythms of Sikl’s “Herba” and Topaapobwaii’s muted electro-bass-bleeps on “Blue Roots Drinks Seeds Eclipse” definitely compliment each other. Polar’s “Deep Blue” and Upside Down Umbrella’s “On Bird Radio” feature emotive audio oddities that trickle into corroded electronics with an appealing twist. Kirai’s opening piece represents its sound accurately; delicate waves of ambience are melted to dreamy guitar elements on “Sound of a Tear.” Sote also delivers a distorted reality of warped instruments crying alongside the beautiful sounds of a concerto in full effect. The post-industrial fragments of Unfamiliar Ceilings come from Emcee Absoludicrous (“Robots Hate You”), Nommo Ogo (“Shubliminal”) and The Art of War’s “Hail Caesar.” The sinister rhythms on these three cuts interact with razor-sharp beats propelling the listener into a state of mechanical flux. Octavius’ “Monochrome” screeches along with a highly textured vocal distortion of layering guitar experimentation, perhaps best found on labels like Morr Music / City Centre Offices these days, while the closing track by Proyecto Triste generates an eerie soundscape of gothic textures as it peacefully filters away on “Trapped in a Box.”
Tear have exposed the more abstract forms of electronic distortion by combing thoughtful compositions of varying elements in what may be one of the under-appreciated compilations of 2004. Unfamiliar Ceilings captures the sound of tears as they stream across a new era of curiously abnormal musical manifestations.
Unfamiliar Ceilings is out now on Tear Records.
