The music you are about to experience is not for mass consumption. If the idea of subjecting your ear drums to the unholy squall of static, squeals, samples, synthesizer and silence does not appeal to you, please click away from this post now. In all fairness, most followers of local bands have no intention of ever looking under the rug at the sounds that exist in the noisy underbelly of Orange County's music scene. But rest assured, you can find them if you look hard enough.
One of those places is the Eclectic Company in Santa Ana (held on at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art), where some our most inventive young artists come to tear the definition of “music” to shreds on a monthly basis. The next show happens on Nov. 21. After rummaging around their website, we've come up with a short list of bands whose penchant for fucked up sounds makes them the cream of the crop. Though we think they might prefer to be called the “bottom of the barrel.”
XWXPXMX
Told you we weren't fucking around here. This Santa Ana duo is out to make your ear drums bleed with their mix of atonal rage and nail-on-chalkboard sounds. Plunking, dissonant keyboards and blood curdling screams and squiggly, high frequency manipulations of XWXPXMX sound more like the apex of the apocalypse than an actual band.
But then what do you expect from two band members who describe themselves as “2 discarded carcasses found in an abandoned industrial science lab after a suicidal manslaughter”.
Listening to songs (yeah, we're using that term loosely here) “It Came From Beneath the Sink” are 3 plus minutes of distorted terror that you definitely don't want to get caught listening to in a dark room. Unless of course you enjoy that kind of thing.
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If you're looking for something a little less chaotic, this Anaheim sound smith brings a heaping spoonful of mournful drama to the noise rock scene. Often mixing it up with more destructive bands on stage, the solo work of this Anaheim solo artist takes influence from influences like Yamatsuka Eye,Hijokaidan and others. Amidst a back drop of minor synth swells and relentless TV static on “Flowers of Flesh,” the sound of throaty male screams and sirens sound like something out of a dramatic anime scene. Other more tuneful tracks like “Drowning” pair crashing audio waves with slow building crescendos, perfect music for lying on the beach face down.
Probably the more disturbing than the wailing sirens and gritty growl of this Santa Ana solo act is the fact that anyone would think of splice the name of one of America's lamest talk show hosts into their moniker. But maybe it was just a ploy to rope some day-time T.V. lovers into his audience. Eh, probably not. But if you like some effect-driven keyboards, EDX is a solid young up-and-comer.[
Slow, hypnotic monk music is a good way to describe the sounds that soar inside sound of Fullerton duo Between Ravens and Crows. Using a seemingly endless barrage of bells, drums chimes and gongs, their songs sound like they should be echoing through the halls of a monastery somewhere in the Himalayas. It's the kind of music that makes you want to look over your shoulder and see if someone is behind you, only to find that you are standing in the presence of some deadly Kung-Fu master ready to throw down. C'mon, you know that happens all the time. Check out this earthworm-inspired animated video to one of their latest untitled songs.
Obviously this last guy on our list won't be signing up to be a Christian camp counselor anytime soon. But if you'd like to site around in the darkness of an Eclectic Company show and hear some trippy, quasi-demonic soundtracks of destruction, then check out Santa Ana artist Jesus is Dead (also known as JID to his friends in the underworld).
Using a mixture of wired, electrical madness and off beat cult films the in his performances, JID's industrial sound is darker than most, at times mixing '70s sounding white noise with just about every effect pedal that can fit on a card table in front of him. With sights and sounds working in concert, the whole JID experience sounds like one big audio exorcism.
