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artist: Femme Under Plastic |
Femme Under Plastic is yet another project of the ever-prolific Richard Ramirez, heard here in collaboration with Ella Einsmire, formerly of the charmingly named Texas noise quartet Anal Drill. With one track, clocking in at 32:29, I had assumed that this was going to be one of those long, almost changeless slabs of noise that Ramirez has been known to churn out in his Werewolf Jerusalem guise, and the first few minutes seem to confirm this suspicion, but then, under the relentless digital clipping that occupies all of the upper frequency space in the first five minutes, little hints of melody creep in, and as the high-end crunch drops out, all sorts of detail in the background comes into focus. From here the piece weaves layers of harsh and not-so harsh texture with a fair amount of finesse. Despite the abrasive surface, the overall feeling is calm and even melancholy, though this is broken up midway by monolithic static bursts that eventually build into the expected monotone roar, which by this time is as welcome as a hot cup of tea after coming in from a rainstorm. A nice piece of harsh sound, unfortunately marred by overcompression in the mastering, which tends to hide rather than enhance the details. Despite this, well worth investigating, as are most of Ramirez's projects.
