(Noise Not Music) It is not up for debate that Bryan Day is very good at what he does—nor that he is the only one who even can. Not only does he scratch-build novel sound sculptures that function as both musical and visual artwork, but many of them are also fully usable instruments as well, harnessed by the same hands that cobbled them together in amazing displays of improvisational dexterity (check out this video of him playing with Jay Kreimer as Seeded Plain a few years ago). That dexterity also allows for transposition to a variety of contexts, something explored on other collaborative efforts on eh?, Eyesore, and elsewhere over the years, a recent gem being 2021’s Crooked Doppler with Seymour Glass on Tanzprocesz. Like that tape, Woven Territories dissolves any boundaries between performance, observation, and processing, making it difficult—irrelevant—to tell who’s doing what. Is this a field recording of the same space in which these machines are trundling, or is it cut-and-paste? Is that the sound of a contact mic’d vibrating surface or the growl of an old tractor engine? Any answers I spitball tend toward the imagistic because of how vivid these surreal vignettes are, painstakingly painted in all the right colors. I am a big fan of the unwieldy motifs that show up in the lengthy sketches like accidental inkblots: short synth ditties like train station announcement tones; sweeping, gauzy swirls of loosely spooled tape blur. - Jack Davidson
(Disaster Amnesiac) As far as Disaster Amnesiac can tell, Woven Territories documents a reunion between peripatetic Public Eyesore main man Bryan Day and erudite Omaha lifer Dereck Higgins. The former's musical output sticks to the Experimental side, while the latter is involved in disparate approaches to sound making. Still, they share a common bond in Omaha and its scene as well as the propensity to get odd with those sounds of theirs. The four pieces that comprise Woven Territories unfold over durations that strike this listener as being almost courtly in their feels. No elements within them feel rushed or forced as the duo present their respective additions to the overall aural matrix. Ideas emerge, blend with whatever other sounds are happening, and then they all float and bob until they drift away. Higgins's field recordings are particularly noticeable in that they go well past simple environmental documents and capture what could be much more varied field sources. Day's invented instruments still sound somewhat familiar to me, and his phrasings on them are evolving as his familiarity with them increases. It's these two aspects of these sound artists' toolboxes, both physical and aesthetic, that give Woven Territories that air of sophistication. Day and Higgins are probably not going to just bash through any scenario, particularly one which involves sound blending and music making. This is not to say that the album is dull, for it certainly provides plenty of action; it's just that none of its four tracks ever jump immediately to the more frenetic spaces. Instead this duo set up moods, let them establish themselves in almost cybernetic ways, and then add spice as the broths thicken. It'll be interesting to see if these two can find more time to break away from their various other endeavors in order to produce more of these weaves. - Mark Pino
(Vital Weekly) From the home of Public Eyesore and Eh? Records, same building, three new releases for us to enjoy. The first one contains music from the man in charge, Bryan Day, who is someone creating his own instruments. He will use old electronics, metal bits, wooden parts, and whatever he finds scattered around in search of amplification. I don't think I heard of Dereck Higgins before, who takes credit here for electronics and field recordings. The information lists that he worked and worked with David Nance Mowed Sound, Digital Sex, Son Ambulance, RAF, 3gypt, Skuddur, Hotlines, InDreama, Chemicals, Norman & The Rockwells, Icky Blossoms, and Hotlines, none of which I heard before. He is also a visual artist. Earlier this year, the two met up again in Omaha, Nebraska and recorded the four pieces of music. While this music is part of whatever improvised music might be, especially in Day's handling of the amplified objects, I think things move to another level thanks to Higgins' use of field recordings. Maybe it all is more electro-acoustic, and it's a combination that works very well. There is a contrast between the broken-up, shorter sounds and the longer, continuous sounds, which meet in the middle. Sometimes Day produces the longer ones; sometimes, whatever Higgings brings on is short. The result is music with significant interaction, half urban with its societal debris being amplified, half outside, in the field, with animal sounds. There is always action, one steady stream of changing sounds; nothing leaps out, and little silence is allowed. Not very traditional in terms of improvised music or pure field recording, and an excellent release all around. - Frans de Waard
(Bad Alchemy) Woven Territories (PE153) entstand bei einer Rückkehr von BRYAN DAY nach Omaha in Nebraska in der Begegnung mit DERECK HIGGINS, den er von yly her kennt. Er hat dafür seine durch Bad Jazz, Collision Stories, Euphotic, Pay Dirt nicht unvertrauten Invented Instruments eingepackt, Higgins operiert mit Field Recordings & Samples. Als Nebraskas unermüdlichster Umtriebler, der von Digital Sex in den 80ern über 'Nzwrks' als DHX bis zum Bassspiel mit Dave Newhouse in Manna/Mirage Musik aller Art macht und auf YouTube tolle Platten empfiehlt. Mit 'Hovering Debris', 'Neon Cactus Beacons', 'Serpentine Tracing' und 'Locomotive Distortion' vieldeutig benamst, führt das Zusammenspiel mit Day abseits von ambienten Sonosphären ins bruitistische Gedränge alltäglich urbaner, industrialer und diffus verwilderter Szenerien. Spielende Kinder, krachende Tore, geräuschhafte Machenschaften der brodeligen oder perkussiven, der tropfenden und rauschenden Art. Mit sogar saitenspielerisch zarten Einschlüssen ins schleierhafte Dongen, Scharren, Dröhnen. Mit verhuscht liquiden oder eisenbahnerischen Anmutungen, schrottigem Noise, stereopho nen Schlieren, knarzigen oder surrenden Spuren, dumpfen Tönungen. Donnerblecherne Laute mischen sich mit gongenden oder drahtigen, mit knurschenden Schritten, mit motorischen Einsprengseln oder homöopathisch musikalischen. Permanente Bewegung lässt keine Ruhe einkehren. Hantieren, Automatisches, der Wind, Wasser, Leute oder Vögel in vagen Andeutungen, perkussive Art Brut, liquide Kaskaden, der Ausklang nur ein abgebrochener Fortgang. - Rigobert Dittmann
(Raised By Cassettes) A slow slide into a sharp note. This has air about it and can feel just as easily like it is outside, someone struggling to get into their car perhaps, as it can feel as if it is being launched into space. The sound of rewind now and then that lead pipe roll. This, in turn, becomes quite loud and distorted. It feels mechanical as metal is being hit in a gong type way. Slowly, this begins to feel as if it is expanding as well. Electronic reels like rodents. Squeaky hinges. Walking through the mud. A little bit of sonar now. Harsh sounds come through now like a swarm of insects. Big, electronic pinball type sounds drop now. We go into the second song with bells ringing like The Undertaker. Distorted static comes through. Strings come through like magic but there's still that feeling of haunted space. A scraping comes through with delightful tones, making this feel both hollow and beautiful at the same time. It's like being trapped down in a well but at least the sun is shining and you have happy thoughts somehow. Strings also feel like they're ascending upwards and about to break. Those same sounds of scraping and walking footsteps come into the next song. Laser shots are being fired through. Slowly beeping and rattling now, the song continues. Bottles sound like they are dropping and the feeling of that train engine begins to increase speed. A scratching now which sounds almost like chickens. This grows intense and it just feels like we're on our path. I feel like I can hear that train whistle blowing in the background, but then the tone slightly changes and I'm beginning to feel something else. Rather than some big explosion, this whole piece ends quietly, just sort of trailing off. - joshua Macala
Blastitude Best of 2023 List
