This tape came out almost immediately after I began my review hiatus for the month of December, an unfortunate circumstance because all I wanted to do was write about it. Double Goocher Shop is the self-titled debut release from the duo of Matthew P. Hopkins and Renato Grieco; the solo work of the former I am very familiar with, but I cannot say the same about the latter. The tape is a playful but dark romp through mysterious speech, nocturnal concrète ambience, and a distinct penchant for unseating and altering its already haphazard sonic constructions. By this I mean that even the most abstract moments on Double Goocher Shop are never immune from interference, whether it’s the disarming intermittent playback of the spoken nonsense that begins “#1,” the intrusion of silence and slow disintegration of what appears to be a live performance recording on “#parole,” or the bassy clunks that disturb the fragile atmosphere of “#3.” While there are many other elements to the music than just the words, they are what make me remain mesmerized by the tape on every listen. The way each line progresses into the next, how certain words or phrases are repeated several times, the almost uncomfortably hypnotizing effect; Double Goocher Shop belongs amongst the greats of the text-sound medium.
Noise Not Music 