Straight from Worcester, Massachusetts is this Abdul H. Sherzai, who some of you might know from NxCx, a.k.a Nazi Coffins (cosmic sad jazz; anti-fascist noise duo). Let’s call it the New England Noise Scene is a really active scene from where I know quite a few names from the past playing the Rhode Island Noise Fest a few times at the beginning of this century. Many happy memories include weird combined barbeques and harsh noise performances in creepy cellars. I had never heard of Abdul’s solo material and was pleasantly surprised.
“Idle Passage” is a concise release with 31:24 minutes on the counter, divided into six tracks. How he generates the sounds is unknown to me, though it sounds like a combination of pedals, loops and various other sound sources. It’s not a massive harsh noise wall, but the compositions have a lot of movement. Sounds range from distorted rhythmic sounds to clean oscillators – or so it seems – and everything in between. I bet this sounds intrusive when you hear it on a proper sound system. Maybe that’s why his name is often mentioned at noise shows in that area.
Towards the album’s end, it all gets a bit louder, with “Staring Into Flashlights” and “Die In Obscurity” being the absolute top. Due to its drowsiness, the latter is my favourite, but the incredible feedback layer also hurt my ears. But his tagline warned me, so don’t feel sorry for me! (‘Not for the faint of heart, but for the hard of hearing’). Well-produced, well-composed, clear, sounding noise experiments from someone we probably will hear more of.
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