Mix-95-journal-1

Nothing could’ve prepared me for the new Sprain album ‘The Lamb as Effigy’ just released. What a fantastic and brutal mix of styles and influences ranging from Iannis Xenakis to early Oxbow and Swans, that works as a fitting intro to this new collection of experimental, noisy rock tracks. And when you get to 24:47 its all about two singular moments in experimental music history, separated by 10 years, first a short incursion into 1995 Yona-Kit’s infamous ambient metal masterpiece and then onto 2005’s Shit & Shine’s Ladybird.

Yona-Kit’s s/t is a whale of a record uniting the Brise-Glace ensemble/supergroup with Zeni Geva’s K.K. Null! Contra punctual instro-interplay, puzzling lyrics, stuttering time signatures, progressive rock, avant-experimentalism and guest vocals by Melt-Banana’s Yasuko O. Recorded by and with Steve Albini’s gear, it’s all here. (Fun fact 1: Yona-Kit means “Jonah Whale!)

Back when Shit And Shine formed, the idea was basically to sound like their heroes Drunks with Guns and Strangulated Beatoffs, using that same basic formula. A big dumb ass catchy riff played over and over until the joke gets old … then keep going. All you get is two basses, a snare drum, a huge cardboard box and a tiny toy Casio sa-1 keyboard… using the “airplane” sound hitting the same key over and over for 41 minutes. (Fun fact 2: Recorded live at Southern Studios in London, in the same room where Bauhaus recorded ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’!)