24 Oct 2012

"A nightmare vision" – Echoes and Dust reviews Gnod / Shit & Shines's Collisions


The great Echoes and Dust has this to say about our latest Collsions LP:


The latest instalment of the ‘Collisions’ series from the mighty Rocket Recordings doesn’t compromise on challenging its listeners and their preconceptions. The ‘Collision’ series has seen some great match ups who compliment each other in a Yin/Yang synergy, previously matching some of the great modern day psychonauts The Heads, White Hills, Mugstar and Oneida. The latest experimenters to grace the series are Gnod & $hit & $hine. Taking things into a post apocalyptic industrial revolution of the future.

Gnod kick off side one with ‘Shitting through the eye of a needle in a haystack’; those used to the recent output of Gnod will be shocked to hear some form of industrial/noise/drone dubstep. Integrating drum machines, loops and a more idm electronica vibe ‘Shitting through …’ creates a nightmare vision, imagine watching Max Headroom on DMT in an abattoir for mechanical cows and you get close to how this thing makes me feel. Inspiring and spiritual in a way a spleen jarring way, this track more than anything recently has affected my own thoughts and output of music.

$hit & $hine’s ‘Ladies Circles’ makes up the 2nd half of the record. Ex Pat Brits now living in Texas, and like Gnod an ever morphing group that seem to constantly challenge your expectations of what they offer. This stop start repetitive groove counterpoint to Gnod seems to hark back to an 80’s vibe with its shimmering chorus guitars, adjunct rhythms, vocoder vocals and distorted synths but sent into a spin cycle reminiscent of The Chameleons and The Butthole Surfers. ‘Ladies Circle’ is a driving track that mutates on the dark fringes of your mind taking you from early electronica and dubby horizons and feels like the world is collapsing in on you similar to how the dentist’s gas mask messes with your mind as the anaesthetic starts to take a grip.

‘Collisions 3’ is an apt title for something so shattering of my beliefs, it certainly messes with your mind in a giddy sickening way that will want you wanting more. It’s a fine addition to the series and something that should sort out anyone who doesn’t want to play it safe and expand their minds in a way they weren’t expecting.

By Chris Hughes.

See the review in full here

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