Chen, Che – “Pulaski Wave (Violin Halo)/Newtown Creek Mirror Lag” – [Pilgrim Talk]

Thurston Hunger   11/26/2011   7-inch, A Library

Behold the bionic violin. Che Chen NY violinist
soars up in the Tony Conrad ionosphere. The first
track catching angles off satellite shards, quick
splinters of harmonics, shrill and beautiful. A
deep planetary hum keeps that piece anchored. On
the flip side, the violin cycles as if reincarnated
from a previous existence as Afghani bagpipes lost
in a collateral damage drone strike. But the soul
sound is not to be denied, now armored with sine
wave structure, and flashback memory captured by
tape delay. This one buzzes your ears, strafes
the tiny hairs, all in a burning caress. After
a while it develops a strong pulse, like an echo
across a canyon. And if this stellar Pilrgim Talk
(thank you!) seven inch leaves you wanting more as
it did me, check the bonus CD which has a raga built
out of “Black Mayonnaise” a silty sludge in real life,
a river beneath a river, but here infected turntables
float up from the amped up oozing, stuck and popping
while the violin morphs and overloads. Exceptional!

-Thurston Hunger