DECAY CAST Reviews: John Rasmussen “DModes” Digital EP (Not On Label, 2017)

“Rasmussen is the solo project of John Rasmussen.  He is based out of Denver Colorado, USA. His styles range from harsh noise to IDM / experimental / minimal. John began performing in 1999 after many years of recording. Originally John started Page 27 with John Gross in 1994 and for years around that time he played cello for 6 years.  John Rasmussen and John Gross work on putting on the Denver Noise Fest, http://denvernoisefest.com/ (started in 2010) and performs with Michael Nowak/John Gross as Page 27 regularly”

For this  release, “DModes” Rasmussen blends harsh noise, ambient loop sections, field recordings,  found sounds, augmented voice, lo fi transmissions blasted, blown out  rhythm sections, data bending  sonic sculptures; kind of but  not so similar to  the  sounds of  machines and  programs  dying, failing, flailing, and  fucking exploding in the  face of the user; with no  where to  run and nowhere to hide.  Belching, fizzing digital  gargling  spews out of the  speakers in long harsh seeing  breaths of  aural decimation. The first two tracks “Xenu” and  “DModes”  start similar with a minimal, crunchy digital  sounding  tone  burst, but both slowly eclipse into walls of harsh feedback, malfunctioning, or  properly function  triggers, and  sequencers. The Midi Cable has  come alive to strangle its user, and  the  user  repents.  The  B Side boasts live  versions of both of the  tracks  on  side  A. Although the  fidelity is a  bit lacking on the live recordings, the damage, confusion and discomfort is all still there.  Despite the  abstracted composition both of the  love  tracks don’t  stray too far from the  originals  presented on Side A,  which is  both impressive and  exciting  considering the noisy and chaotic nature of the project.

Often times with harsh noise it can be  extremely difficult to  tell the  source of the  sound, albeit  conceptual maybe it’s not important  what the  source is but with  Rasmussen ‘s work  it  screams a  healthy dose of  both digital and  analog  electronics and  processing.  Just as the  listener is being washed away in a sea of  white  noise trauma, the  chaos  fades and the listener is  left  with  bleep, dot,  error information?  A  single  dial tone to the  brain that has  already escaped.  What happens the  moment before meltdown?  Check the  band camp and  find out  HERE.