Roisz, Billy – “Walking The Monkey” – [Editions Mego]

Don’t let the bright colors fool you, these are some heavily mangled drones from Viennese video/sound artist Billy Roisz. On her debut solo LP here, she uses a variety of instruments (like electric bass) and unstruments (like kluppe, kakophonator, jealous heart and audible video devices) to produce a pulsating storm of decrepit feedback like menacing rainclouds or the steady hum of fluorescent lights and central heating. While the title track opens with some gentle piano lying oceanside in a hammock, it degenerates into a dreamless sleep of brain deprogramming a la ripped and gnarled audio adulteration and decibel decimation. Not really harsh, but it’ll definitely creep under your skin and give you shivers. Some deep bass to reverberate your eardrums and pop your speakers, dwelling in its doom and glory, fulminates into a caustic roar peppered with a frenzy of alarming tones and cracked beeps. Definitely bottom heavy but full of dynamic spacing and timbral variety. A frequent collaborator in the European electro-acoustic scene, and hopefully more to follow from her on her own as well.