Sunday 8 March 2009

Track reviews: "fake movement of flying machines" and "elephant dance" by CC-SB

Emerging east London duo CC-SB describe their sound as "2 people making noise", the apparent self-effacing apathy of this statement masking the fact that it's actually pretty accurate. Their oft-indefinable music references a variety of styles derided as 'noise' - from the clinical cacophony of 1940s musique concrète to the raw, decrepit angst of late 70s industrial and dance-spasms of mid 90s drill 'n' bass - while retaining its own distinctively murky persona.

"fake movement of flying machines" owes much to the urban psychosis and general overwhelming sense of rot at the dark heart of Throbbing Gristle. Built out of a synth drone, wailing feedback, languid fuzz-bass blues and a largely indecipherable monologue about 'broken pieces of skin', it sounds more like a scrapheap than a song, its drumming resembling something in-between a death march and the slow, relentless pounding of nails being listlessly hammered into a coffin.

If "fake movement of flying machines" uses repetition to infer an endless night, then 'elephant dance' uses much the same techniques to awaken manic delight. It's the closest thing to a pop song (or any kind of song) to be found on their MySpace. However, be warned: what CC-SB consider fun many might consider deranged. Spitting out distorted 8-bit melodies and fevered IDM drums like a sugar-rushing tourette's sufferer, it's like tribal folk music for the lunatic within us all... I mean that in a good way.



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