Cassette Review // Drekka / Lather "Live: Concentration Club"

$6 //
Edition of 50 //
https://lather.bandcamp.com/album/live-concentration-club //

The interesting thing about this cassette is that it's not a collaboration between Drekka and Lather, playing at the Concentration Club together, but rather the two artists having different sets at different times just at the same place.    This would make it somewhat neat for there to be a Concentration Club series, as then artists coming through town would want to play there and hopefully be a part of it.   It would just be nice to see some places to play get some recognition since it doesn't happen all too often these days.

Drekka starts things off on Side A with minimal electronics.   There is some sharpness to this and it can get loud over the sound of what feels like a car stalling.    It feels like something is being shifted around, it's a bit of a ruckus, and these tones create this pattern behind that which is a bit hypnotic.   Louder sounds, like shaking giant metal sheets and other whirrs and disturbances enter the otherwise minimal, quiet feel.    There is this calm, this overall tone of sonar underwater but these outbursts disrupt that and really add another layer to this all.

Tones fade into the background and there is a sound like percussion- cymbals maybe- but to me it just sounds like someone has a bag of something metal (I'm thinking coins but I've also been watching the new "Ducktales" a lot) and they're kind of shifting it around.    Louder tones now and what sounds like a xylophone to break up the near silence.    Now it sounds as if it is raining nails down onto a snare drum and this is quite the interesting sound, as a bottle appears to be rolling around as well.   This somehow creates the sound of a march for me and tones still remain behind it all until these haunted radio ghosts come through.    While it can feel like singing, it can also just feel like the haunting of the damned.

On the flip side, Lather opens things up with this magical sound that just drones like it's going to wipe out an entire army.    It has this sound of organ keys and it comes through loud like a sea or wall.    Though it isn't quite an accurate portrayal I imagine a strong wind storm, like a hurricane but in slow motion, pulling apart a grand piano, piece by piece, and this is the sound it makes.    There are some sharper sounds within this now, like nails on a chalkboard.    A drone of some sort exists behind these screeches and it makes for something slightly relaxing until it isn't.

With a flare for the dramatic, this feels like it could be out of a Hitchcock movie if it was slightly scarier- more about the horror than the suspense.   I think of Bela Lugosi being directed by Hitchcock, for example, some sort of combination like that.     It begins to drift back and forth, as if we are lost at sea, which seems like an all too fitting and overall perfect mood to describe this music.    It grows quite louder and the keys really return before the end.    Though it might not be exactly the same on both sides, you should enjoy both of these pieces by Drekka and Lather as they are both disrupted drone.