REVIEWS

Martyn Bates
Migraine Inducers/Antagonistic Music (Complete Versions)

Beta-lactam Ring Records

Posted: Thursday, August 30, 2007
By: Matthew Johnson
Assistant Editor

Originally issued on cassette in the early '80s, this DIY release marks the earliest recordings of Martyn Bates, who would later go on to build a cult following both as a solo artist and as co-founder of Eyeless in Gaza. While his later career would incorporate everything from folk to industrial, pop to psychedelia, the recording originally entitled Dissonance and released under the moniker of Migraine Inducers is raw, low-fi noise. While it bears little in common with his later material, Bates is clearly attached to these early noise pieces, and even issued a new version, remixed and modified with Eyeless in Gaza partner Pete Becker, in 1994. The appeal of this CD version for fans is clear: Dissonance, in both its early cassette incarnation and later reissues, has been long out of print and nearly impossible to find, and Beta-lactam Ring has done a marvelous job putting this version together, complete with artistic cardboard packaging and a booklet featuring a detailed history of the recordings. Musically though, this won't be a particularly enjoyable or illuminating listen for any but the most devoted Eyeless in Gaza fans. Though Bates employs everything from tape loops to glockenspiel, the primary sound source is electric guitar. While the artist's ability to wring an astounding number of sounds and effects - ranging from spacey fuzz to industrialized clanking - from a comparatively simple set-up, there's an aimlessness here, personified by Bates' occasional rambled whistling that keeps the listener at arm's length. As the liner notes state, this material "was never woven from a dark or maligned bolt like much of the difficult music of its day," but that also means that it lacks the punch-in-the-gut impact of similar works of that era, like Nurse With Wound's debut album or Controlled Bleeding's extreme noise pieces. Dissonance is similarly abrasive, but lacks that intensity, less a scream than an extended, particularly textured bit of self-indulgent improvisation. The 1994 version, included here on a second disc, is more of the same, with additional studio manipulations and sudden, unexpected cut-offs emphasizing the material's seeming lack of direction. Diehard Eyeless in Gaza fans will appreciate this, and so will devoted noise aficionados. Newcomers to either category, however, will be better off starting elsewhere.