I’ve known David Dodson for about 20 to 25 years now. We’ve both played on several Rhode Island Noise Fests and met on other occasions. And we always kept in contact, albeit not weekly or even monthly. But it’s always fun to meet or talk, and we’ve both gone through musical development, and these days, we both make music on modular systems and have grown beards – though he is way bigger. And before me is his latest release, a double CDr on Love Earth Music with loads and loads of new material and a few tracks released previously on samplers or fundraisers. Because, yes, his heart is at the right spot. The front of the packaging mentions guest appearances by Mark Pistel of Consolidated, Merzbow, Mono No Aware, Solypsis, and This Is Not Okay. And I admit those last two don’t ring a bell, but the first three definitely do.
Disc discs One and Two shall be called Disc Alpha and Disc Omega. I don’t know how tracks were selected other than the flow of the whole release, and if Alpha and Omega indicate a beginning and an end, maybe concerning recording or I don’t know. But Alpha is playing, and there are a lot of dynamics on here. From industrial hip-hop (“America”) to technoid industrial (“Tell Your Stories”) and from experimenting with sounds (“Mason Jar Meditation”) to experimenting with noise (“Testostraphone”). Though the last two are exceptions here. Almost all tracks are rhythm-based, with or without a song structure but with a message. The track with Leigh of Mono No Aware has a great EBM vibe, and the 10-minute “A Mutated Meditation” may best be described as a drone without drone sounds but with rhythmic layers. And then the slow movements we find in drones mutilating/mutating those layers.
The Omega CD has a slightly different approach, making it even more interesting for me. The first part of the CD has more tracks, continuations the styles we found on Alpha: Rhythmic with influences of industrial, technoid, rhythmic noise and anything rhythmic. David likes experimenting, so give it a try. But what makes it extra interesting is tracks 9 to 14 which are parts of a live performance he did at Synthcube Headquarters. As I see it, live sessions are a great way to experiment with the capabilities of your setup. To play some tracks, you can also buy on a release that doesn’t add i.m.h.o. to the tracks unless you’re doing something extraordinary with added improvisation. Otherwise, it would be a situation of ‘press play’ and watching things go. So the live recording presented here gives an extra insight into David’s mind and how he actually works on sounds. And maybe it’s me, but it looks like some of the ideas from the live set made it into tracks, or some ideas previously generated were reused to improvise within the live set – which is the other option. So yeah, that added live set made me extra happy.
Overall, a very lovely release of an artist who means a lot to the New England experimental scene – rhythmic and otherwise. My favourite track, except for the live set, is the collaboration with Mark Pistel of Consolidated, “Quest For Empathy”.
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