- Situated in the hydrofracked woods of northern West Virginia, Voice of the Valley doesn't adhere to any popular definition of a music festival. It shares zero in common with, say, Electric Daisy Carnival or All Tomorrow's Parties. Taking over Indian Meadows, a mom-and-pop campground just outside Morgantown, VoV is more like a three-day hang session that's equal parts art retreat for troubled teens, basement hardcore show, Rainbow Gathering and Mountain Dew commercial from the '70s.
It's the brainchild of Tusco/Embassy, a combination label, press and promotion team that's committed to creating a freewheeling and anti-commercial atmosphere—authentic DIY culture. No sponsors, food stands, showers nor security. There are but two performance spaces: a tiny wooden stage (the kind common to bluegrass events throughout Appalachia) and a pavilion with picnic tables. As for attendance, between 200 and 300 heads each year is my guess, and that includes musicians. That it doesn't attract far more is a mindfuck. Typically boasting around 40 performers, the line-up represents a sprawling cross-section of North American experimental music. This year proved no exception. There was savage power electronics (Skin Graft, Noise Nomads), electro-acoustic sublime (Grasshopper), avant-rock (Drainolith, Gary War), Fluxus-flavored tape manipulation (Jason Lescalleet), genre-bending sludgecore (Bludded Head), analog alchemy (fluxmonkey, Telecult Powers), free improv (Tiger Hatchery) and visions too cracked for taxonomy (Nautical Almanac, DJ Dog Dick, Moth Cock).
In addition to its dogma-subverting heterogeneity, VoV programming also serves as a snapshot of the trends currently tearing through the noise community. And not surprisingly, this year's roster—even more so than in 2011—was packed with myriad iterations of neo-Kosmische propulsion and cacophonous beat science (what I've called technoise in the past).
Forma /// Photo credit: Angelina Dreem
Let's kick-off with what turned out to be the weekend's most potent set: Forma on Saturday night. The New York trio have evolved exponentially since Spectrum Spools released their debut last year. A love for the utopian pulse-n-sway of Ashra and Neu! remains their rudder, but the new material they spotlighted is more stinging and up-tempo, like Creature Comforts-era Black Dice had they possessed Y.M.O.'s electro-funk and melodic sensibilities. Indeed, they were that moving. I expect their upcoming full-length, due out this fall, to be one the highlights of 2012.
Container /// Photo credit: Josh Levi
Two other artists who unleashed toughened-up sounds were Container and Radio People. Performing Friday, Container played several new tracks that squealed and kicked with increased ferocity. The rhythms were more nervy as well. On the flipside, his understanding of set flow (build, peak, breakdown) exuded a newfound finesse. In keeping with last year's VoV appearance, the crowd went ape-shit: pumping fists, shaking hips, flailing fits. As for Sam Goldberg's Radio People project (who took the stage the following evening), he continued his journey through the narrow rift dividing progressive electronics and spirit jazz. Nowadays, however, his synth-work is more aggressive, breathing fire like Albert Ayler's sax. Adding drummer Greg Boyd and additional synth-dude Adam Miller for VoV, Goldberg worked his way up to a mesmerizing space mantra that would've made F/i proud.
Profligate /// Photo credit: Josh Levi
VoV also featured several artists who embody the "pop" end of the technoise spectrum. I was happy to discover Meager Sunlight are just as good live as they are on record (see their split 12-inch with Skeleton Warrior on More Records). Cofounded by veteran noise musician Jeremy Harris (AKA Lazy Magnet), the duo deal in mirrorball pomp shot through with epic arpeggios and featuring Nina Nightingale's spiraling vocals. It's insane that this is the club music they're interested in making, and that they're really good at it. Following Meager Sunlight into the realm of danceable songcraft was Noah Anthony, whose latest project Profligate falls between Daily Life and Cold Cave (imposing company). Tempering the lo-fi grit associated with his other moniker Night Burger, Profligate rocked dark-wave vox, thunderous handclaps, boiler-room thump and real glassy cool (though he's still more raw than anything in the Wierd Records stable).
Unicorn Hard-On /// Photo credit: Josh Levi
Yet another manifestation of noise-gone-techno-gone-pop was Unicorn Hard-On's Saturday show. Her knack for bringing together freaky abstraction and hook-laden pleasure is absolutely singular. I call her style Industrial Bubblegum; and for those familiar only with her recorded output, you must see her live to fully appreciate just how muscular her productions are, even a party jam like "Persian Cats," which served as closer.
Photo credit: Josh Levi
Heading into VoV, I was already familiar with the names mentioned above. But the festival's deep roster also contained numerous musicians whom either I hadn't seen live or heard on record. The following five are the ones that really impressed.
Sharlyn Evertsz: An out-of-nowhere surprise. Possessing considerable charisma (sound as weapon, sex as attitude, style as performance), the Miami artist constructed a dystopian wall of industrial pummel and noise-opera histrionics. Her deployment of low-tech grinder beats kind of makes her the next phase in the VIKI/Unicorn Hard-On continuum. Though she seems awfully young, her manipulation of distortion and feedback is already agile. I could be wrong, but she's yet to release any vinyl or cassettes.
Indignant Senility /// Photo credit: Josh Levi
Indignant Senility: Solo endeavor from Pat Maherr (also of Diamond Catalog). He has released several titles on Type, yet none are quite indicative of his Sunday evening set: bass and fuzz decay every bit as mutant, multi-dimensional and monolithic as Pete Swanson or Andy Stott.
Humanbeast /// Photo credit: Josh Levi
Humanbeast: Like Meager Sunlight, a male/female tandem making the trek from mangled noise to techno-pop—only they haven't trekked quite as far. Plus, they're more smitten with doom and gloom. Humanbeast have released a few tapes on the excellent Gross Domestic Product imprint to date.
Chemtrails /// Photo credit: Josh Levi
Chemtrails: Jeff Host's roots might lie in noise-drone, but his most recent work is straight techno (for the most part). Hovering over minimal hardware, he opened with an awesome throbber that synthesized vintage musique concrète and a grainy dub groove that wouldn't sound out of place on one of Mike Dehnert's Echocord Colour plates.
Trogpite /// Photo credit: Josh Levi
Trogpite: Alias for one Nick Painter, whom I met shortly before his Sunday performance. "All I do is rip-off Wolf Eyes' Dread," he said, half-jokingly. Painter is certainly no charlatan, yet his killer set did creep, lurch and thud in ways that recalled what was, interestingly enough, one of the very last albums to reflect Wolf Eyes' initial flirtation with beat-based noise. In a way, Trogpite represents the closing of a circle between modern technoise and one of its direct antecedents.