VDS II by VODER DETH SQUAD
recorded live, no overdubs, no edits 9.15.10 at green machines
originally released by SicSic Tapes
VDS is m. geddes gengras & jeremy kelly
'Having left it’s orbit the Voder Deth Squad is still transmitting waves of warm and human sounds while drifting further into dark, cold and void spaces unknown… It’s the duo’s outstanding ability to deliver this feeling of being snugged in an inhospital enviroment, like Ellen Ripley’s cat in „Alien“. Voder Deth Squad make you purr, but be aware of the evil forces lurking!!'
SicSic
'II, as the name suggests, is the second release by the drone (super)duo of M. Geddes Gengras and Jeremy Kelly. The first cassette, entitled simply I, was released by Stunned Records and (as pretty much all releases by Stunned) was sold out in a heartbeat. The second cassette picks up on the same ideas that put Voder Deth Squad into existence and develops them in order to completely envelop the listener and provide sonic nirvana hidden among the dark, rolling synthesizer sounds.
While many people might associate LA’s Ged Gegras with cold, experimentalist approach to synthesizers and electronic music in general, remembering his lengthy sound collages and nearly lifeless bleeps, bloops and massive drones, he’s also actually ableto create heart-wreckingly beautiful pieces of ambient music, like on his Magical Writing tape. On II, the fresh offering from SicSic Tapes, is a truly immersive journey, where the beatufiul, tape-treated ambience is deepened and a added a darker, more mysterious edge. While MGG’s Magical Writing was almost folk-like in its closeness of Earth and basic emotions, II by the collab with J. Kelly is way closer to the endless coldness of the outer space.
As before, the music on II consists of two side-long, untitled tracks. Side A is built around distantly pulsing, ominous sequence, emerging from the tape hiss like some enormous pillars emerging from the fog in an endlessly huge cosmic structure hidden somewhere on a remote, dark planet. Single synth notes float among the pillars, exchanging signals and tiny scraps of improvised melodies. Waves of sounds rise into echoing clusters bouncing constatly against the huge, background pillar-like sequence. The sound is non-invasive, it is bassy, but in a fear-inducing way, it just envelops the listener and develops gently along the way without much stylisting change. It is the ideal sleeping jam, for those altered nights.
Side B at first might sound like a copy of the previous track, but it soon gets more power and fills the cold vacuum with swirling synthesizer solos, ascending and echoing like there’s no tomorrow. This is the music for the dream stage, when the brain creates non-existent worlds at an incredible pace, adding more surreal details to the whole. II is the simulation, the document of the thought processes happening in the brain during the sleep or in the altered states of consiousness.'
-weedtemple
'On their own, Jeremy Kelly and M. Geddes Gengras are brightly colored rangers able to stomp out bad guys through the power of light. When unified, they become an invincible organism that feeds on their individual strengths. Kelly has long framed isolation as a melodic tool, transforming loneliness into dusty passages of historic significance. The gold rush gloss of his rustic work is often in line with Sergio Leone desperados in search of retribution.
If Kelly is the sturdy frame by which Voder Deth Squad maneuvers, Gengras is the motor. Focusing power on his third eye, Gengras has pulled vibrancy from cosmic dimensions otherwise untouched by man. The A-side of II hums with new life, Gengras turning the psychedelic key as Kelly begins the robotic gait. Though this is their second release together, the steps are precarious as the chassis coalesces in its improved form. The careful movements continue well into the B-side, but as Kelly and Gengras begin to understand the dynamics of their machine, it becomes an iron giant capable of aural dominance, synths exploding in excitement as Voder Deth Squad becomes self-aware. The electricity is sucked from the surrounding area and VDS begins to speak in agitated passages. We have passed into the new world order, led by fearless technological pioneers. On we march as one with the Voder Deth Squad.'
-ad hoc
video review by WAS IST DAS
http://wasistdas.co.uk/voderII.htm
