ACCELERA DECK – Live Volume I

(CDR, Scarcelight)

Chris Jeely starts off number one of a triple-disc set of live performances with two very contrary pieces, both reworks from recent Accelera Deck releases. Track one, disc one is “dross” from the “sunstrings EP” which is a chaotic hazardous piece of power noise gone glitch gone completely havoc and then wrecked on fossile rocks on an alpine stone slope. An impressive reminder on what used to make Japan Noise such a nice thing back then. And still is. The crispy fireplace gone fireblaze sounds that crunch their way through most of this track are full of strong impact and able to set your mind straight, or askew – whatever your viewpoint on what normal is might be. If you are listening to Accelera Deck, this viewpoint might change or already have changed radically so the time spent is worthwhile in any case.

Track two, disc one consists of material taken from “Ipsissima Vox” and is a more reduced, silent and mellow piece, though a lot of its reduction, silence and mellowness is owned to the piece it comes after. Actually, it constantly grows and grows ready to become a blazing drone of screeching noise, which never really happens because the track breaks off before the right moment in time comes for it to fully bloom. But the accelerating dynamic is clearly audible. This is mixed with minimal percussive elements and a playful usage of sickening high frequencies and seasoned with some protuberantic explosions of noise here and there. Both contain a certain degree of chaos and hectic disturbance that connects them. There is glimmer and blisters in both of them, though in one track it is terribly condensed and bursting into all directions, while on track two the sparks seem to wait for new energy or fusion to be released.

I am always amazed at the easy way Jeely seems to handle these masses of noise. He is not at all afraid to throw some awkward pieces into the mix, that bounce back and forth for a short time and then are gone again. Or rather dismissed and discarded if they don’t work. Since these are live recordings, it is also impressive to notice with how fine sensors and feeling Jeely arranges these pieces – even if they are boldly brash pieces of noise – and keeps them together for over 20 minutes or 30 minutes at the time. It is not pure improvisation I guess, but rather a reworking of – as said – already recorded material. Let’s call it eagerly rehearsed improvisation, because as everybody knows, things usually tend to work out quite different than during rehearsals.

There is no info where the motivation to release three discs in a row with Accelera Deck live material comes from – a harddisk rummage sale, start of an enormous bootleg series – and actually it is not really important. Scarcelight is Jeely’s own label and he can the heck do with it, whatever he likes. It is only because each of these discs has a separate catalogue number that I decided to do three separate reviews on them. Another reason would be that I wouldn’t ever be able to listen to all three of them in one consecutive sitting, due to restraints of time, concentrational ability and physical disability, so I’ll go at them one by one. That doesn’t imply that I will follow the numbers in any order, by the way. The final reason for doing three reviews is that I imagined I would like to see all three entries separately below each other forming a nice block of Accelera Deck reviews within the January review section. See, this is my webzine and I the heck do with it whatever I likes. (Or what someone influential advises me to or hints at…)

The covers of these three discs are loosely slapped together collages just the way we used to do them back in the day when everybody had his own Xeroxed punkrock fanzine. Things definitely have changed that way, but it is good to see the spirit is still alive, if hidden down deep somewhere in some people’s soul. To find a label – other than Chris Jeely’s own label – to release this as a triple vinyl album are minimal, to say the least anyway. I would welcome such a release. I’d put it right to some of my other favourite live-records in multiple sets; such as would be the Springsteen 5er live box, Allman Brothers live at Fillmore East, The Band’s Rock of Ages and Nils Lofgren “Night after Night” – you bet I am joking? I’m not. I like bombastic explorations and versions of songs that go on for too long in live recordings. But that is a regular thing with experimental noise anyway, so I wouldn’t make the differentiation anyway.

Now check out parts II und III of this series as well.