No Waves

Body/Head’s No Waves is a live recording from March 28, 2014 that was part of the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee. Through three pieces, the improvisational noise-rock duo formed by Kim Gordon and Bill Nace produced a stirring wave of guitar and vocal noises and accelerations occasionally complemented by some harmonica sounds. The record feels dense considering the sparse elements and I couldn’t be more pleased with Kim Gordon’s anguished and nonsensical singing. This is one of three live albums Body/Head released this year.

RIYL: The Dead C., Sunn O))), Sun City Girls, The Static and Sonic Youth’s Sonic Youth Records releases.

FCC CLEAN!
Recommended Tracks: 1, 2 and 3

1. (7:48) *Sugar Water – Vocal gibberish structured as a response chanting to distorted guitar strumming. Cyclical, quite ceremonial.
2. (8:31) **The Show Is Over – Brief back and forth guitar interventions soaked in pedal distortions are the backbone of this track. Sporadic indecipherable vocals emerge along the way – sound like singing after dental surgery. Some harmonica sounds filtered through effects. Abrupt ending. Thrilling composition.
3. (23:39) **Abstract/Actress – Ambitious composition gluing together fragments, sounds and furies from two separate tracks from their debut album, Coming Apart, released just a year earlier. Lots of pedal effect manipulations and masterful guitar control. Unpredictable and constantly dynamic.