REVIEWS

Blastbeats for Freedom Webzine

Holy Shit! What was that?! Oh, it was just the the opening crackle of the new Jute Gyte 3" CD-R. Don't ever put CDs of classical music in a CD changer right before a noise CD. The changeover isn't pleasant and the differences in mastering levels is usually pretty drastic. Jute Gyte is Adam Kalmbach. Adam uses computer, guitar and voice to construct epic noise pieces. This particular piece is a 23 1/2 minute excursion into the finer points of distortion, crackle, and distortion. Jute Gyte seems to have somehow harnessed the power of ocean waves crashing and managed to run it through a few distortion pedals. Not full on "HARSH(!)" but maybe I'm not listening to it loud enough. It maintains a "medium-harsh" dynamic that I really like and the mastering job is superb. It's loud without being too loud and the EQ is boosted in all the right frequencies. I'll bet there was a genorous amount of overdubbing/editing in the creation process, not that that's a bad thing. I myself have been guilty of letting the overdubbing spiral out of control. The cover is beautifully laser printed on nice paper and stuffed in a slim 3" jewel case. Nothing extravagant but it's still a very professional looking package.

Heathen Harvest

God created 3 inch CDRs for three reasons. Firstly... because it made it easy for artists to release a small piece of music without having to waste extortionate money on a normal sized CDR and accompanying packaging. Secondly... to help reviewers who have to submit 'x' amount of reviews per update and they haven't the time or can't be arsed having to wade through 70+ minutes of a full release to meet that quota. Thirdly... because he's God and he can do what the fuck he likes. No-one is exactly going to argue with that all seeing cunt now are they?

There's nothing like a good old blasphemous start as an entree to a review to get things rolling. I await the hate mail with twisted glee. But before the Christian fundamentalists have a chance to flood my inbox with death threats there is the little matter of completing this review. There is a question that needs answering first before I continue. Who is Jute Gyte? I didn't know before receiving this release in for review. Being a more switched on and inquisitive reviewer, and because the Jeshimoth Entertainment website didn't provide any clues, I went and asked the man myself. This is what I found out in his reply:

Adam Kalmbach is a 21 year old who lives in Missouri USA. He is currently a student working on a music degree and is co-owner/operator of Jeshimoth Entertainment, an independent label focused on esoteric work ranging in style from pop music to harsh noise. He began working under the name Jute Gyte around 2002 and has finally begun releasing his work, aside from some compilation appearances, this year. WWGWW is his second release recorded this summer.

With my quest for knowledge answered, and yours to I hope, we move swiftly onto the main course. The meat and potatoes, sauteed of course, that constitutes the music contained within, limited to 50 copies, the 'Where We Go When We' release. Comprising of one 23+ minutes duration track this is the very essence of the wall of thunderous sound that I've spoken about so many times in the past. Working within the framework of the 'noise' genre, with faint flecks of drone and ambience thrown in, Jute Gyte employs the tactic of bombarding the listener with a constantly mutating melange of sounds constructed and destructed at will. The waves of electronically produced manipulations an overpowering attack on the senses. Wild hallucinogenic static, bass deep rumbles and screeching squalls surge and pore forth from the speakers with the sole aim of disorientating and pulverising the listener into submission. A man made unstoppable colossus of aural magnitude that brings tears to the eyes and small trickles of blood from the ear canals. For 23+ minutes time is irrelevant. Nothing exists in this sonic wasteland laid bare before all to hear and bear witness to. The pain it elicits an excruciating untamed beauty that resonates from the blackest of hearts. By the time the last notes filter into the putrid air that has enveloped the very fabric of space a sense of relief is strongly felt and embraced. Normality returns once more as the body slowly recovers its functions. Weary and battered , ears still bruised and throbbing, the descending silence like manna from the Gods. Then the fingers twitch uncontrollably and the need to listen to it again becomes overpowering. You feel like the suicidal lemming, who having survived one jump off the cliff, enjoyed it so much he needed to experience the sensation once more. And so it goes on. Play. Recover. Play. Recover. Until you are bloated and can take no more.

Thus 'Where We Go When We' admirably achieves its aims. The artist releasing a recording that fits neatly into the whole 'noise' spectrum. The listener ecstatic to gorge on every morsel that is the banquet of powerful sonic excess. Everyone is left happy in their own way. Come forth and feast whilst you still have the chance. Anorexia nervosa types need not apply.