doofgoblin – album-rl (unschooled)
john guilino is an artist from the usa who develops his sound through his
continuous moving homes, influenced by flesh, the residents, matmos, electric
birds... after adopting the moniker doofgoblin he constantly develops his
experimental electronic frequencies, regularly updating his equipment. after 3
cd-r releases of his album marble barrel he made his debut appearance at
unschooled 2003, while album-rl ep material was waiting for the release dates.
this release, which is actually an ep, although with six tracks, in its 17
minutes it abruptly tends to slide through styles, between the experiment and
the concrete, between the ambiental and the rhythmical. the first track ‘lovar’
is a repetitive glitchy noise in constant reverb. already in the second ‘round
peg’ you can notice the crystallizing of the sound. the track gains a slightly
more solid structure and shows signs of rhythm. the noise bits are still
present; however the delay bits that enter in the middle of the track capture a
serious dub impression. undefined short shouts appear in several returns. at the
very end the rhythm specifies to be lost in the noise and the dub delay. then
starts ‘standards last raze’. although it begins as abstract for a very short
time in its two minutes and five seconds it completely turns into a rhythmical
piece with a noisy melody. the atmosphere of the next track (‘bells and
allusions’) calms down. ambiental subtle brassy and vibrating melodies. bells
and allusions. everything is perfectly clear. in the longest track the rhythm is
abstract. this ambiental predecessor mixes into ‘woodroof solution’ which from
quiet ringing is transformed into a rhythmical noisy dimension, as it suddenly
gains a dark ambiental mood. and then again rhythm and distortion... short
ambiental comedown and a noise ending. everything in three minutes. short and
fast. the next and last track ‘saturdam’ is a reminiscence of all the previous
tracks and everything which was already used. at the same time, raised at a
higher plateau. strong melody, rhythm and noise. with a quite decent production,
this album concerning its style, floats somewhere between rhythm and
experimentation. tending to grab every aspect of sound, yet it remains unclear
where in all those styles he really wanted to be, and where he actually is.