Bruce Russell - Demonstration Record LP

What you see before you, “iffy” cover and all is a solo project from noise-rock pioneer and The Dead C veteran Bruce Russell. Recorded on a mobile phone in the southern summer of 2023-24. This collection of live performances, sound collages, and solo improvisations have been pressed into a black slab with an “unfinished” cover.

Bruce Russell, “Mr.Noisy”, the man that’s been “giving rock'n'roll a prison haircut since 1984” is letting us in, providing an “open-house” into the sonic alchemy of one of the most interesting minds of the NZ noise-rock scene. With an Android mobile, slight “linear editing”, and a strict dismissal of any stereo-imaged, mastered sound, much of the listening here is quite revealing, and provides expansive sonic palettes despite its minimal setup.

Tracks like Quattro Pezzi Su Due Note and Holly Springs #2 appear first as sparse guitar centered numbers, but quickly open themselves up to the listener, with shimmering modulation pedals and jumping, scattering, slide guitars creating synthetic textures with as much detail as s wavetable or granular synthesizer. Dirty, snarling tracks like Metal Pedal and Modulationism produce maximalist rhythmic growls and sweeps with just a distortion and modulation box, demonstrating just how much of a savant Russell really is at just creating engaging beautiful music. Showcasing the vast amount of compositional and thematic directions on this project, the Climate Study tracks provide a more laid-back window into Russell’s creative patchwork, the slowed down overlay of pans, door hinges, and machinery creating ecosystems of industrial sound.

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Bruce skips a stone out into the ocean and it comes back (boomerang style) as the sound of a thousand empty ships collapsing in on themselves. A metallic moaning and twisting that's once frightening & triumphant in its finality.

The soundtrack of the last dinner party on the sinking ship of Humanity.

Instruments, tapes recorders and electronic junk washes ashore after several decades of being abused by avant-garde crustaceans. Bruce pushes the play button and here are the results.

This record allows one to float on the surface. Its buoyant vibrations bring enjoyment to the abstract sounds the listener encounters. Just don't think about the dark mucky bits below the surface. Under the waves a multitude of blank eyes scope out your ass in the hope of having it for a sardine sandwich. The World's largest pool noodle can't save you now!!
— John Schoen of Uncomfortable Communications - WAYO 104.3fm (Rochester, NY)