Black Rain – Protoplasm

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  • Though some of Black Rain's soundtrack work from the '90s was recently reissued, Protoplasm, recorded live at London's Corsica Studios in October 2012, is their first new material in seventeen years. Now that the group no longer includes Shinichi Shimokawa, Stuart Argabright, who previously fronted Ike Yard, is Black Rain's sole member. On the title track he pits corrosive textures against feral percussion, which exist in huge, desolate spaces. "Data River" is located in that sweet spot where techno, post-punk and industrial intersect, with rapid-fire drums and billowing drones. On "Night City.Tokyo (London Version)" a sour rain drips over massive bass as creepy vocal samples and ambient recordings appear and decay into pits of reverb. Predictably, this live recording trades the original's ambient noodlings for a more sharply focused approach. "Endourban" is even more spartan, consisting of little more than trebly drones and a pummelling beat. Protoplasm is unashamedly cinematic, relentless and evocative, if perhaps lacking in diversity of mood. Still, that weakness is no doubt the upshot of being a live recording, and Protoplasm nevertheless augurs well for a rumoured album.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Data River A2 Night City.Tokyo (London Version) A3 Endourban B Protoplasm
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