(Dead Angel no.45) The title is not misleading, folks: there's some heavy repetitive mantra action going down on these four long tracks. Not that this is a bad thing. O my no. I don't know what instruments Castro is using on this release -- whatever it is, it's fed through banks of reverb and delay until it emerges as different-sounding drones, basically. This is hardcore drone music that wouldn't be out of place on the Drone label (home of the mighty Troum). A lot of this actually reminds me of Troum's more recent material, come to think of it. So the man must be doing something right.... The only real difference between the four tracks (no titles, so sorry) is in the textures of the drones and the delay speeds, but even accounting for such minimal adjustments he gets a pretty surprising amount of variety from his oscillating drone-o-tron. The high-pitched shimmering drones of the third track are particularly interesting, sounding like the singing of high-tension wires -- Alan Lamb fans take note -- and more of these sounds appear on the fourth track, where the drones 'n whines interact to form eddies and whirls. This is pretty swank stuff for drone fanatics, but the rest of the world should probably approach with caution. His brand-new CD-R arrived in my mailbox just yesterday, but i haven't even had a chance to look at it (much less hear it), so that will have to wait until the next issue.... - RKF
(Vital Weekly no.293) I think the CDR 'The Joys And Rewards Of Repetition' is an older release by Public Eyeshore, at least the recordings are from late 1999. Four pieces, all of course lengthy, which all deal with drones. 'Hiss' the opening piece sounds like a processed piece of E-bow guitar. Here too a subtle play of delicate tones is used, but the long sustained sounds might be a bit too experimental for some, but not for me. Again, this one comes noise-free too, but is less easily accessible then the second 'Sin Titulo'...recommended - Frans de Waard
(AmbiEntrance 12/01) The 17-minute opener hiss doesn't behave as one might expect... rather than sibilating, it simply expands in long, slurry strands of unknowable vapors, rippling and morphing in its own due time. Thus opens four expansively droning cloudscapes from Jorge Castro; much of this gentle, amorphous material seems to be processed guitar sounds, but who can tell? (and why ask anyway?) Eerier cloud (8:52) rides in on whispy highs which are joined by rythmically thrumming echoes and trepidatiously shifting lower streams. Brassy beams spread in multiple directions when feel (20:03) begins to hover through several enigmatic phases. Nicely pensive moods within. - David J. Opdyke
(Komakino) This is pure trance-music, drone-Music, - choice is Yours. Jorge Castro extends an endless wave of feedback, a slow movement, - sort of low fog growing under your feet. - I guess it's overall guitar feedback, but i can't swear. This cd, - driven by echo and reverb, The Joys and Rewards of Repetition, presents four pieces from 8 to 2o minutes, - trips into Your ego, or through the space without star lights. Gloomy, fairly good, - Your neigbourghs will fear You. Unfortunately there are not audio clips to listen, but cd costs only 8 dollars. - Paolo Miceli
(Chain D.L.K.) Over the last few years, Puertorican musician Jorge Castro has offered, as part of the Cornucopia duo, some of the most brutal and intense harsh noise in the (overcrowded?) international scene. But he has also developed a very interesting solo project of ambient guitar sounds. This cd-r (which must have been issued in early 2001) features four long and homogeneous tracks of drones and gulfs of sound which manage to be both abstract and emotional, constantly shifting (the title is indicative, but there IS change within the pieces as well) from lighter, serene atmospheres to hypnotizing echoes and darker moments. If you've had the chance of listening to Steve Roach's recent "Strems & Currents", you can find a similar style here, only even more pushed towards abstractness and impalpability. Definitely worth listening to many times. As usual, Public Eyesore design and packaging are minimal but very elegant and eye-catching, and fit well with the contents of the record. The label has also issued a more recent collection of Castro's works, I'll try to talk about that in the next future. - Eugenio Maggi
(Apersand Etcetera 2002_10) Obviously with a big heap arriving at once, its hard to work out where to start listening. I flicked a few on in the car to get a feel of the label, went to the web site to get the catalogue – which has some simple descriptions (and saved me typing in all the names!) – and decided to try the earliest at home as it read as if it would be family friendly (my wife doesn't share many of my extreme tastes!) And a great place to start – the title really tells it all: Castro is into beautiful guitar solo's that sweep and carry you into places of musical pleasure, reminiscent of Frippertronics, but delight for themselves for almost an hour. 'Hiss' takes long lines that harmonise and weave, resonating; shifts into percussive pattering and back; into a quieter phase that builds pulses into harmonics and pulses. Voice-tones emerge in 'Distractions' sweeping into a central section that spounds like train rhythms before rebuilding the tonal sweeps. Shorter elements combine in 'Cloud' as ringing tones form a base for whale-whirrs, pings and passing percussives, and even the occasional picking. And finally 'Feel' starts out with aggressive echoey percussive tones with little sirens in; calling tones and a doomy deep period ; crackle cycles followed by echoey blips over a drone and final back to tones. The sort of album which makes exploring smaller labels worth while – and not the last one here. - Jeremy Keens
