TO MAGNETIZE MONEY AND CATCH A ROVING EYE (2019)

CERTAINLY THE LONGEST JIM RELEASE THUS FAR, TRUMPING LONG NIGHT'S 2HRS 37 BY OVER 90 MORE MINUTES, AND SPREAD OVER 4 DISCS (4 FILES, SORRY), TO MAGNETIZE MONEY MIGHT NATURALLY BEG COMPARISON WITH SOMETHING LIKE WILLIAM BASINSKI'S DISINTEGRATION LOOPS BUT ARGUABLY MORE HAPPENS IN TERMS OF SHIFTS AND MODULATIONS ON THIS RELEASE IN THE FIRST 10 MINUTES THAN DOES ACROSS 5 HOURS OF BASINSKI'S LOOPS.

THE SHEER LENGTH GIVES A LOT OF SPACE FOR IDEAS TO BREATHE AND FOR ENTIRE NEW MOVEMENTS TO BE PROSODICALLY BORN OUT OF THE DECAYING MATTER OF OLD ONES. EACH DISC DOES HAVE A DIFFERENT FEEL BUT THEY'RE ALL IN THE SAME APPROXIMATE WHEELHOUSE OF BROODING, DISQUIETING, DRONING, OMINOUS, GURGLING, AMNIOTIC, ETC.

WHAT I DO LIKE ABOUT IT IS THE WAY THAT SOME SOURCE SOUNDS FEEL UNTRANSFORMED AND NOT QUITE BAKED INTO THE WHOLE SOUND - VOICES FLOATING UP AND OUT OF THE MIX, AND SOMETIMES A SYNTH SOUNDS QUITE OBVIOUSLY LIKE A SYNTH. MUSIC WHERE THE HAND OF ITS MAKER APPEALS TO ME AND SOMETIMES THAT IS LOST IN STUDIO PROJECTS. 

BIT LONG FOR ME TO SAY CERTIFIED: GOOD BUT I IMAGINE FOR SOME PEOPLE THIS WILL BE A REAL HEAD-TURNER.

IN, DEMONS, IN! (2019)

A COLLABORATION WITH ELECTRONICS GURU CARL-MICHAEL VON HAUSSWOLFF SEEMS LIKE IT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED MUCH SOONER THAN 2019: PERHAPS THEIR PREDILECTIONS FOR BROODING DRONE MUSIC THAT SUBVERTS AND TWISTS THE RECORDING DEVICE IN ITS MANUFACTURE MEAN THEY'RE TOO SIMILAR, IN SOME WAYS? 

THIS IS A DRONE RECORD THAT HAS A REAL DEPTH AND FEELING OF PRESSURE IN THE MIX. RIGHT NOW IT IS REALLY HUMID: THOUGH IT APPEARS COLD. THIS MUSIC SIMULATES THAT FEELING SOMEHOW - ON THE SURFACE ONE THING, BUT FROM DEEP WITHIN THE ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE THERE IS SOME OPPRESSION, SOME CAPACITY TO CHANGE.

IT'S JUST A LITTLE LIMITED EDITION RECORD ON SOME OBSCURE LABEL BUT I THINK THIS IS UP THERE WITH ANY DRONE COLLABORATION JIM HAS DONE SINCE THE START OF THIS BLOG. IT REALLY REMINDS ME OF YELLOW SWANS, WHO I PERSONALLY THINK WERE AHEAD OF THEIR PEERS IN THIS APPROXIMATE AREA OF MUSIC. THE FULLNESS AND CONVINCING SENSE OF MOTION AND TRANSITION IN THIS RECORD REALLY APPEALS.

GONNA GO CERTIFIED: GOOD. IT PROBABLY WON'T BE ONE OF HIS TOP TEN LIFETIME RECORDS BUT A VERY PLEASANT SURPRISE.

STEAMROOM 45 (2019)

ONE LONG SINGLE TRACK OF VARYING INTENSITIES HERE: WE GO FROM HAUNTED YOGA TAPE TO LABRADFORD ATTEMPTING TO TUG A GHOST SHIP TO DETACHED 2003 WINDOWS COMPUTER IDLING TO OBSOLETE TELEVISION SHOWING SIGNS OF SELF-FIXING TO DENTAL EXTRACTION PERFORMED IN EARSHOT OF RELAXING COUPLE IN THEIR GARDEN.

SOMEONE WHO BOUGHT THE RECORD CALLS IT "A master class in patience, dynamics and sublime dissonance" AND I BASICALLY WOULD EXCHANGE "MASTERCLASS" FOR "EXERCISE". IT IS NO GREAT SHAKES AND COMES ACROSS LIKE A FORMAL EXERCISE OR EXPERIMENT THAT DIDN'T QUITE TAKE.