Beau Wanzer - Power Outage

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  • Beau Wanzer makes music as nasty as a fraternity basement floor and abrasive enough to clear a party in the same space. His releases on L.I.E.S. and Russian Torrent Versions, as well as his collaborations with Traxx as Mutant Beat Dance, are hypnotic explorations of deterioration, with a percussive insistence that's a signature of Traxx's "jakbeat" style. Featuring four tracks recorded in 2009 and 2010, the Power Outage 10-inch is Wanzer's first release on Nation under his own name, and it inspires the sense that we're only just catching up to the talented Chicago native. The title track is an immediate thrill, referencing the angry haze of classic Suicide with muttered spoken-word menace and bruising loops. "Fabrics" slides on gloopy synthesizers where "Power Outage" stutters, but it doesn't sacrifice any mesmerizing impact. "Lotraf" is the strangest track, apparently featuring recordings of a pre-adolescent Wanzer imitating Robin Leach of the US TV show Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous. His voice is processed to become increasingly grotesque, while a sputtering engine beneath spits phlegm and motor oil. "Thurston Moog" is a memorable Sonic Youth-inspired closer, with lacerating guitar that moves the band's famous screwdriver treatments away from the instrument's bridge and straight to the skull. If "jakbeat" indeed represents a different level of musical consciousness as its proponents claim, Power Outage proves Wanzer is as good as any at inducing such a state.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Power Outage A2 Fabrics B1 Lotraf B2 Thurston Moog
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