Low Point Review #1: Stuckometer - Beta Carotene

The next four posts will be reviews of the most recent releases on UK label Low Point. Low Point focuses mostly on drone and ambient music, with some noise rock thrown in for good measure. Their very aesthetically pleasing limited-run releases so far have been on the CD-r, 3" CD-r, 8" lathe-cut vinyl, and 7" vinyl format. CD-r releases come in appropriately small-sized DVD cases with very nice wraparound artwork.

Stuckometer - Beta Carotene
The first review is for the Manchester-based Stuckometer's 3" CD-r, titled "Beta Carotene" (Low Point 006). "Beta Carotene" is a live recording from 2006, and can pretty much be summed up as a noise-rock freak-out... and yet it's more than just that. Its intense 22 minutes start off with some guitar strangling, and then the spidery drums (reminiscent of Hella's Zach Hill, albeit less virtuosic) kick in, alternating between free-form splatter and discernable rhythms. From the very beginning Stuckometer never stand still, even throughout the more respiteful moments of the album.

About 4 minutes in, things suddenly quiet down and a tin whistle (of all things) can be heard above subdued guitar warbles and drum pitter-pats. It fades out and you can make out an actual chord or two before the guitar noise resumes. Around the 6 minute mark some reed instrument begins squeaking and squawking, adding to the general mayhem... Things build up to a dense wall of dissonance at minute 8 and the drums drop to the background. Then a new theme is pursued starting off with splintery guitar stabs, but quickly devolves beyond recognition and fades into feedback drones and drum pummelling... A voice rises above the din, wailing caterwauls that are soon drowned out by more free-form guitar fuzz and skronk. A minute or so later that tin whistle is back somewhere in there as the feedback momentarily chills things out. All of a sudden after minute 13 -- BOOM -- they start up again with a total noise freak-out, drums grooving away beneath it all. Around minute 16 a jam develops, but within 2 minutes the vocals and tin whistle are back and the guitars are reduced to unsettled muttering and droning feedback. A percussion jam ensues with all sorts of clattery things being shaken and beaten, the ethnic wind instruments break into song again, and things wind down to an uneasy finish.

Stuckometer are definitely one of the more interesting noise-rock bands, very listenable, with great band dynamics evidenced by the "togetherness" of "Beta Carotene," which is after all a live recording. This 3" CD-r comes in a mini-DVD case with very colorful artwork involving skulls, rainbows, a flock of some sort of bird, and what I suppose can only be beta carotene??? Limited to 50 copies, grab one at www.low-point.com. Recommended for fans of Wolf Eyes, Hella, Lightning Bolt, Aufgehoben, and free-form improv bands on the noisy side of things.