What happens when Modwump (Craig Manga) teams with Hypercube (Rodrigo Passannati)? A "post ambient trauma" rises in the guise of Hyperwump, and from that merger Cosmic Swirly Thang springs (courtesy of Black Box Recordings and Band Camp).
And man, oh man, is Cosmic Swirly Thang ever one helluva killer LP: so sweetly nightmarish that it'll have one writhing in its many dark avenues, as it sounds on one level fierce and on another, plain damn clammy.
The title track does, in fact, define it. It's certainly swirly, but also big, banging, crude yet all so smooth in its pop-ulating groove. It references a battered brain or cut gut, but in either form, inciting no regrets: a bodacious blend that hurts so bad, it's goddamn good.
Its (arguable) spiritual companion piece, "Quantum Pop Hit" and its "Ian Haygreen RMX" counterpart are as provocative, and though I can't pretend to know what what they mean, I'll sure say this: They friggin rock, albeit in taunting, torturous ways.
In fact, they not only torture and taunt, their calamitous climate grows creepier as they roll, simulating the far-out noises of Frankenstein's lab, with snappy sparks and trippy gears, though I suppose their ingredients could just as well be ascending from the blood-slurping corridors of Dracula's castle. In either way we get a macabre duo that covers the dark, iconic bases: the LP's evident intent.
Other sounds are more alien. In the case of "Cosmic Peel" and its chilly "Station Zero RMX" sequel, one gets the impression of a monstrous takeover, their percussion inspiring visions of marching War Machines and blasting Heat-Rays. To accompany their beat, "Unidentified Sonic Object" sculpts an extra-terrestrial beast flopping from a crusty cylinder, ready to exterminate; and its "Humberto Alvarez RMX" multiplies the militant Martians a hundredfold. "Thora X", on the other hand, details a ferocious, faraway landscape upon which humans haphazardly land: a slimy, dangerous variant of what Mario Bava or Ridley Scott would paint.
If the latter tracks are, in fact, alien-based, then there are others that reflect science fiction of a different kind. "Betamax Killed the Videostar" presents a melody for high-tech transference (cool, old-school, "Alphaville" stuff for sure). "Gas Addicts" and its "FLVZ RMX" constitute "Betamax'"s cathartic aftermath, with computerized explosions that might usher Logan and Jessica into their long, fateful run; while "Metal Submarine Music" and its "Liam Boyle Fucked Up RMX" are unabashed Jules Verne/Captain Nemo-fueled: judgmental dictations to set a wayward world right. Oh, and the groovy, "Cosmic Swirly Thang's gIRL RMX" by Dan Svrc is a Cherry 2000 rendezvous turned tight: switched on, that is for hard, surreal delight.
Two, additional tracks prove more so amorphous (and because of their singularity, perhaps smack of the title track). For example, "Roswell Fantasy Chennel"--and its "Seigfried Grundmann RMX", "Frankie Machina RMX" and "Henri Sizaret AkA Auto Reverese" trilogy--could be backdrops for a series of exotic, profane executions; whereas "Fat Ugly Boy Cuts a Rug" and Ian Cahill's rowdy "Comfort Within Noise RMX" spit of sadistic self-sacrifice: people hurting themselves or even others for the sheer, sick sake of it. In any case, we still get prime-choice examples of terror, even if they're much more open-ended in scope.
If Cosmic Swirly Thang is any indication of what Manga and Passannanti can stir, I'd sure feel gypped if they didn't sequelize, but for now, I'm just pleased to ruminate the rude compilation that stands--and so should you!
Swirl that Hypercube thang at
https://blackboxrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/cosmic-swirly-thang?fbclid=IwAR33q8N1WFQBTUsghrCZkLnYgulAllCcTkM43Bcc2v6wd6JZBlDUlTVQTCA
