'Taste Our Voodoo'
Lydia Lunch is no
stranger to collaborations. The vocalist/poet/actress/writer has
performed as part of a number of bands as well as with the likes of
Clint Ruin, Einsturzende Neubauten, Henry Rollins, Sonic Youth, Oxbow
and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez to name a few. But no matter what she does
or who she works with you can guarantee the results are going to be,
unique and interesting... perhaps even a little frightening.
Lunch's latest
collaboration 'Taste Our Voodoo' sees her partner up with avant garde
instrumentalist Philippe Petit, who has himself had a pretty long list
of collaborations in his discography. The combination of the two
melds Petit's strange and sinister soundscapes with Lunch's punky
spoken word delivery. Despite the four 20-minute tracks being
recorded live over a period of two-and-a-half years, the overall
effect is almost like listening to the result of an exquisite corpse,
as though each artist wrote performed and recorded their part
separately and yet they strangely come together as a whole.
Each of the tracks is
comprised of several parts. With Lunch's sharp and distinctive tone
ranging from brash and acerbic to distant and psychedelic. At the
same time Petit's soundscapes move between dark industrial noise and
trippy drone. It doesn't always hit the mark with many points feeling
too disjointed and unconnected from each other. However when it does
come together it sounds wonderfully nightmarish.
This is quite a rough
and ready recording with crackles, hiss and microphone noise
frequently distinct. The sound isn't fantastic and the mix feels very
much as though it was done on the fly. But it is more of performance
orientated document rather than a polished studio release.
There is no rhythm to
latch on to and very little in the way of melody. This is an
expressive work, and few are more expressive than Lunch. It won't be
of interest to anyone outside of those into experimental electronics,
noise and the general avant garde. Yet it is no less a notable
pairing of artists.