Ekhein Summer 2012 Tape Batch Part 2 - Geoff Mullen / The Accidents / The Compass Rose | Label Feature

Welcome to part two of a feature on the Ekhein label's most recent batch of cassette releases. The LA based label operated by Matthew Sullivan (aka Earn) has been exploring the depths of contemporary composition with a special focus on cassette releases has quickly become home to a large swath if contemporary music's post-noise underground. You can find the first half  of the feature here.



If the dull metallic clang of some factory nearby makes you stop and listen then this one will be a scorcher. Geoff Mullen's cassette Alone and In A Room is a strong brew of live instrumentation and tape collage all mixed up in an improvisatory precision. The music is taken from a variety of live performances but by the sound of things it would be hard pressed to separate the live and prerecorded sound.

This is not necessarily miles away from what Matthew Sullivan and Sean McCann have been up to. What makes Mullen's work stand apart is his seeming obsession with the gritty side of things. Throughout the album swells of percussive chaos continuously bang about in  every direction & the electronic hiss resonates through out. Almost like listening to a condensed version of the industrial revolution.





The Accidents Demo Color may be the further removed from the rest of Ekhein's current group of releases. It is miles away from the sonic sludge assault of Matthewdavid, Geoff Mullen's purcussive industrial din, or Matthew Sullivan & Sean McCann's new music ambience. Blasting off with synthesizers & drum machines at full blast sequenced into a sci-fi new wave paradise. This is not all a kosmiche journey though as spoken word collage pieces and some general sonic mischief follows in due course.

Somewhat surprisingly some rather pleasant sounding new age-esque guitar work enters the picture. Sure it is mixed with a variety of effects loosing up the proceedings with dashes of "weird" here and there detracting any notions of playing it straight here. Most surprising are the easily digestible track lengths averaging around 2:30 minutes, a first in the rest of the releases being discussed.

The Compass Rose may be the perfect bridging gap between The Accidents and the rest of Ekhein's summer 2012 releases. The cassette is soaked in the mythology of cyber punk literature and the bleak dystopian future put forth by Industrial music. I'm not going to necessarily say I follow whatever narrative there is to be had here, but it's probably not too far off from the last transmissions from a poetic scientist on the precipice of disaster.

This is some heavy stuff and in the times (or is it always like this?) of "dark" this and "wave" that The Compass Rose stand apart. It is as far as I can tell the overall industrial attitude that sets it apart, almost vintage in it's feel. I don't think many would argue that Monte Cazazza meets J.G. Ballard. At one point sinking into a mantra that could define this entire batch of releases;"It consists of a variety of colorful arrangements intended solely for my aesthetic approval". This may in fact be the certain mantra which has guided Ekhein's progression as a label, though I would venture to say the only color present here is grey. 

Ekhein's summer 2012 batch of tapes is available now via their website & select distributors,

Ekhein Summer 2012 Tape Batch Part 1 - Sean McCann and Matthew Sullivan / Matthewdavid | Label Feature

Matthew Sullivan has been releasing music under various pseudonyms for a number of years now. Originally releasing some harsh noise as Privy Seals while eventually mellowing out a bit and stripping back the aggression with Earn the moniker Sullivan has been using since 2008. He hasn't been silent with this project by any means and maintains an ever growing back catalogue which all seemingly led up to last year's A Following Shadow full length on the LA based Post Present Medium.

During all this time he has also been operating the label Ekhein, with a focus on releasing music  via cassette and CD-R and has quickly come to be home to a large swath of the contemporary music's post-noise composers. The label's current crop of releases continue on Sullivan and companies winning streak offering a diverse group of artists presenting a rather cohesive aesthetic aim. In this first look into the label's current offerings the subtle hues of grey really come alive.

The first album up is Sean McCann and Matthew Sullivan's Jackpot.  On this outing the duo have essentially left all notions of genre behind. I would almost dare to say ambient or possibly post-ambient, but that is just ridiculous. Jackpot consists as a "document of sketches and collages" according to the press release  making it almost a necessity to view it in light of the duo more official or completed works such as the recently released Vanity Fair full-length on McCann's Recital imprint. This new cassette was recorded around the same time as that album so it's hard to escape it's elder releases shadow.

Jackpot ventures down the same dusty path as it's fore bearer. A mixed bag collage that is full of subtlet hints of artistry and composition many people in the "underground" seem to be lacking. The album contains enough shifts of emotion and texture to negate tags like 'drone' as well. It seems like the closet possible cousin would be something akin to Smegma or quite possibly LAFMS.



Matthewdavid turns up two sides of long form compositions compromised of a thick fog-like atmosphere that's hard to navigate through. Some sort of constant motion is happening underneath, or on the other side, of all this tape hiss and hum but it's form is difficult to make out. A slow slurp in one headphone and some sort of cosmic tripped out synth in the clouded distance.

It's a fitting entry into the Ekhein catalogue and a little bit of a departure from Matthewdavid's more beat oriented work. There are still elements of a classic mixtape heard in the crevasses of Destin but they are too difficult to discern from the sonic grey matter taking over here. Something that's not necessarily a bad thing in this case.

Ekhein's summer 2012 batch of tapes is available now via their website & select distributors. Stayed tuned for Part Two of this Ekhein label feature.

Matthew Sullivan & Sean McCann - Vanity Fair | Video

On their brand new LP Vanity Fair Matthew Sullivan & Sean McCann step beyond any specific notions of genre. Well perhaps their working genre is labeled as experimental or avant garde but in the end aren't those labels meant to be completely genre free & ambiguous in it's final outcome, & often times in it's process of creation & display. However you would like to look at it the pair forge ahead leaving a new path of sonic terrain in their wake.

Perhaps it is the wild & uninhibited ideals of the "West" that leads to the unique visual & sonic voice the duo have. Similarly minded cult figures such as Smegma come to mind, yet Sullivan & McCann seem to be pretty much void of the absurd & comedic aesthetic that collective tend to display. Maybe I'm wrong & it has nothing to do with coastal relationships, maybe one of these dudes is from Maine or Mississippi. Regardless these guys are on to something here since they have been able to get me to video visually made up of two near static images and thoroughly enjoy myself.

Matthew Sullivan & Sean McCann's Vanity Fair is available now via McCann's Recital imprint.

Sean McCann & Matthew Sullivan - "Vanity Fair"

Sean McCann & Matthew Sullivan - "Vanity Fair" by Recital

Sean McCann & Matthew Sullivan are two busy men in the post-noise underground right these days. Sullivan's project Earn was recently discussed on this site and while he was on tour from Los Angeles made a stop in Brooklyn to play at a Last Nights show blowing myself and I believe the rest of the audience away with slowly unfolding compositions filled to the brim with white-noise and meditative structures. While Sean McCann has been at it on the west coast for a while now and has been slowly building a reputation as meticulous composer working in a world filled with many unmemorable improv bands trying to make a name for themselves.
It's not surprising to see these two west coast drone heavy weights coming together for a collaboration. Sullivan has released McCann's music via his Ekhein imprint more than once over the years and the two seem to have a natural affinity for similar sonic aesthetics. The track "Vanity Fair" taken from their upcoming album on McCann's Recital label incorporates varied elements found in each's work while also extending beyond the reach of either individuals solo work.
The Sean McCann & Matthew Sullivan LP will be released via McCann's new imprint Recital