The description of A.D.T.F. as “mid-fi” is a bit of an oversell (or an undersell, if you’re me); even though all of Brisbane noise purveyor Minimal Impact’s digital editions are simply rips of whatever master was sent in by the artist, S27E152’s first release since 2016 sounds like it’s been buried in the earth longer than it’s been above ground, and perhaps even unlawfully exhumed for the sake of this edition (we’re very grateful). Roughly cocooned in the fusty thrall of dirt-encrusted tape, the roiling analog core of both side-long cuts—which would probably sound a lot like harsh were they blasted rather than trickled—takes on a meditative but haunting cadence, like the echoes of roars from deep within a cave, too far away to retain the raw desperation of whatever’s throat they came from. For me, this sort of thing is so easy to love but so hard to say why… I guess it goes back to what I wrote about in yesterday’s review, how even the slightest novelties in approach or aesthetic can keep an enduring sound both timeless and dynamic. How can something feel so cozy and yet so totally “hopeless”? “Fulfilled Desires” indeed; I want to wrap myself in the moldy grey blankets of the latter half of that track and sleep until I turn to dust. If you’ve read this far, chances are you probably feel the same.
Noise Not Music 