Hey Mother Death

This Hey Mother Death EP was reportedly recorded spontaneously in Halifax, yet its design seems so purposeful. It is a limited run cassette, hand-numbered out of 50, complete with all of the lyrics, delivered alternately in French and English, written out in both official languages, with a quote from Ginsberg tucked in the liner notes for good measure. While made in the spirit of improvisation, it has clear toeholds in music history. The simple digital bass of "You Left Me" brings to mind the outside-the-club bass layer of Robert Ashley's famed electroacoustic piece, "Automatic Writing," from 1979, while the sluggish boom-bap beat and droning post-rock guitar that develop in "Desert of Trees and Water" evoke the likes of dälek and Sunn O))). Nova Scotian duo Denma Peisinger and Laurence Strelka use stark, gothic poetry matched by desolate instrumentals. It's all very post-apocalyptic and mystical – even the cover art looks Eucharistic. Kenneth Anger would get a kick out of this.