Album Review: Various Artists - Western Schism

The second in New Weird Australia's series of geographically specific compilations, Western Schism features 18 WA artists proffering various takes on minimalism in music. Consisting primarily of unreleased tracks, there is no indication of whether they were written for the album or were pieces the musicians had sitting idle, looking for a home. At any rate, NWA's Stuart Buchanan, with input from Perth natives Andrew Sinclair, Matt Aitken and Craig McElhinney, has assembled a diverse crop of musicians whose shared eclectic bent holds everything together pretty tightly.

First track Days Apart by Erasers' Rupert Thomas, known here as Leaving, is a beautiful opener that wafts gently and is all ambient synth noises that rises and falls. Salamander's Elixir In Echoden is a more abrasive proposition with a frankly nasty drone that slips in and out, and there are several interesting sonic elements at play. The bass throb propelling FM Raster's Pattern 1 is about the closest the record gets to anything that might be easily accessible and is one of the album's real successes. But the collaboration between Sinclair and James Ireland is the standout - the throaty vocal contribution, stretched and warped to within an inch of its life, is backed by a sluggish, occasionally forceful beat, and the track as a whole pulls you in and wraps right around you. Less of a triumph is Predrag Delibasic's Go Lobok!, which is little more than a repetitive, artificial rhythm that never really does anything or goes anywhere. Yet it's in keeping with the collection's ambient tone and, ultimately, this free, downloadable album brings together some of Perth's finest merchants of noise and is well worth seeking out.