REVIEWS

Iammynewt vs. Skullduggery
Ohaka

Trozoc Productions

Posted: Friday, June 13, 2008
By: Ilker Yücel
Editor

Chris Cozort has been steadily making a name for himself in the digital underground, offering his skills behind the mixing console to such acts as Cyanotic and Pigface, all the whole appearing on compilations and remixes with his own project under the Iammynewt moniker. Now in collaboration with Jayme Bass of Skullduggery, who has also appeared on Glitch Mode Recordings' Hordes of the Elite compilation with Iammynewt, the pair releases Ohaka, a debut album of chilling ambient textures and caustic industrial beats that offers the best of both artists' respective work. Every track is overflowing with layers upon layers of frantic programming, beat structures that fritter about in a seemingly chaotic display of electronic wankery that could be annoying if not for the subtly intricate sense of arrangement. The same can be said for the abrasive bass lines, such as the distorted loop that permeates "LILbob," coming across as a lost track from Autechre's eary days, or in the warbling undertones of "FlexFiT," where glitches abound to create a heightened sense of tension, but again, if not for the complex arrangements, the songs could easily descend into senseless noise. Another notable aspect to Ohaka is the juxtaposition of organic tones amid the grating electronics, such as the bassoon-like drone in "shitMuppET" or the mournful yet jazzy pianos that resonate throughout "meteor" as waves of static and distortion glitch bounce around the speakers, sending the listener into a confused frenzy. The title track is perhaps one of the more frantic pieces as a plucking synth refrain repeats atop a simple bass line, acting as counterpoint to yet another vicious array of anarchic beats, while "hhuftd 2" closes the record out with a mangled display of fractured breakbeats and malevolent pads, the oscillating drones and bass lines only adding to the sonic assault. While little more than a half hour long, Ohaka is an impressive debut for two artists with bright stars to follow in the underground music scene. For a digital release, these seven songs are just as much a treat for the ear drums as any CD release, proving that Cozort knows his way around in the producer's chair, and when combined with Bass' sense of somewhat whimsical unpredictability, the two have crafted a release that will surely be challenging to the casual listener, but has the potential to bring both artists to the attention of the industrial noise and IDM scenes.