Dreams in Splattered Lines

デトロイト産インダストリアル～ノイズの秘宝ウルフ・アイズが2023年最新アルバムをリリース!!

ジャック・ホワイト、ソニック・ユース、エイフェックス・ツインらアウトサイダーの巨人たちが愛するデトロイト産インダストリアル～ノイズの秘宝ウルフ・アイズが最新作『Dreams In Splattered Lines』をリリース!
本作は、DIYなエレクトロニクス、Fluxusの前衛性と退廃的な感覚を詰め込んだ25年にわたるキャリアの集大成的作品で、ウルフ・アイズの中心メンバーとその友人達の様々な名義の音源が収録された2023年初頭リリースのコンピ『Difficult Messages』で探求されたアイデアが本作においても踏襲されている。
また、制作にはメトロポリタン美術館にて開催された"Surrealism Beyond Borders"展が大きな影響を与えたとメンバーのネイト・ヤングは語っている。
ウルフ・アイズ史上、最もアブストラクトかつ原始的なリスニング体験を生み出すプリミティブ・エレクトロニック・ポエトリー作品!

On their 2023 compilation release Difficult Messages, Michigan noise institution Wolf Eyes worked with various like-minded peers to produce a series of relatively short pieces that explored fractured rhythms, abstract electronics, demented blues, and other sounds that erased the line between music and chaos. Dreams in Splattered Lines applies a similar approach to work made by just the core Wolf Eyes duo of John Olson and Nate Young. In the absence of collaborators, the album shines a spotlight on what happens within Olson and Youngs decades-tested chemistry when they distill their usually drawn-out murkiness into concentrated brevity. Each of the 13 pieces that make up Dreams in Splattered Lines takes slightly different routes, sometimes tapping into familiar sounds from Wolf Eyes past and other times landing in places unexpected. Tracks like "Find You (Vocal)" or "Plus Warning" bear some likenesses to earlier phases of the groups sonic deconstruction, with misfiring drum machines serving as a deregulated pulse for minimal electronic harshness, Olsons arsenal of homemade woodwind instruments, and Youngs signature sardonic vocal mutterings. Wolf Eyes all but created the concept of the noise banger and refined it to perfection in their Dread/Burned Mind era, so moments like "Days Decay" effortlessly achieve the same level of tension and caustic intensity the band created on those albums. Despite their mastery of this style, Wolf Eyes spend the majority of Dreams in Splattered Lines exploring ideas they havent attempted before. Youngs spoken delivery on "Exploding Time" is mixed loud and upfront, competing with ping-ponging rhythm tracks and receding blasts of electronic feedback. This more dynamic and insistent approach offsets the albums free-floating moments with a driving force. "Pointerstare" is a warped sound collage where distant snippets of R&B radio fade in and out of a paper-thin tape loop, and the minimal "Comforts of the Mind" sounds like little more than static, pops, and the occasional drip of water. The varying approaches continue the compilation aesthetic of Difficult Messages, and the fact that most of the pieces only last around three minutes or less means that no experiment wears out its welcome before a fresh one takes its place. Wolf Eyes excitement to engage in new modes of sonic brutality more than 25 years into their craft is what makes Dreams in Splattered Lines a standout release in their overwhelmingly deep discography. Its a collection of surrealistic miniatures that are all the more confusing, humorous, head-spinning, and incredible for their intentionally concise construction. ~ Fred Thomas