Seeded Plain-Badminton, The Volleys; Public Eyesore Records #155, 2023

 

It has occurred to Disaster Amnesiac more than a few times while listening to Seeded Plain's new CD, Badminton, The Volleys that it should have been put out from the eh? Records imprint. An Electro-Acoustic release with a completely bizarre cover image, recorded at temples in India by two Americans? I mean, c'mon, how eh? is that? Really, really eh? I'd say. 

Well, regardless of which of Bryan Day's labels that Badminton issues forth, this duo action with the accomplished Jay Kreimer is well worth the time spent listening, for this or any other fan of musical whatzis. Seeded Plain continue their long collaboration on Badminton with four tracks of sound art pulled from seemingly any and all manner of sources. These sources are listed as "invented instruments" on the slip case (lovely photos there, too by the way), and Disaster Amnesiac has wondered how many of these inventions were sourced locally in Hyderabad and Bangalore. I can still hear certain elements of Day's rig pretty clearly; even though it's rather sad to realize that it's been years now since I've seen him play live, it's neat to recognize certain of those pops, plinks, drags, and whorls that he coaxes from it. These sounds mesh in ways that can evoke mental images of giant robots striding across the plains of the sub-continent, or skyscrapers alternately erected and felled. One aspect of the Public Eyesore aesthetic is close mic'd techniques to capture large, overwhelming sounds from primitive sound sources, and this aspect is very much at play on Badminton. It's then up to the imaginative successes or failures of the listener as to how they're perceived. Disaster Amnesiac advises headphone listening as a means to get your mind into that successful zone. This is not to say that Badminton lacks any kind of simpler melodic track. I was pleasantly surprised by Bangalore and Hyderabad Two, both of which evince elements of said melodicism. The former by dint of the overtones of scraped metals hitting each other in just a certain way, and the latter by the addition of very resonant throat singing of a quite Himalayan feel from Trishant Shetty. These interactions give added depth, both musical and intellectually, to the proceedings. Hey, Seeded Plains dudes, more of this please, as it's a fascinating development that I feel should be pursued further.  

Badminton, The Volleys with its continuation of their established modes and new, interesting collaborative aspect, is a real winner for Seeded Plain.

So, Bryan, did you find and document any Indian musicians that are doing music similar to groups on Public Eyesore? If so, when are those releases slated for public consumption? Disaster Amnesiac hopes to be kept in the know, should those releases emerge on Public Eyesore or eh? Records.