Dark ambient, anybody? For that’s what Uniform’s
Protocol delivers. We have throbbing aches,
unsettling gurgles, the noise of static, voices snatched
away from their context and so forth. Overt beats are
subdued and relatively rare, Protocol’s primary
concern appears to be texture and the possibilities
of texture to convey darkness, malevolence and wickedness.
The press release tells us that Uniform is one Wajid
Yaseen, who’s also part of an industrial electronics
act called 2nd Gen, signed to Mute. I must confess I’ve
never heard of either of them. What is notable about
this project are its guest vocalists, who include the
likes of Lydia Lunch, Dalek and Suicide’s Alan
Vega. Penultimate track The Symbolist features
the only guest instrumentalist in the form of saxophonist
Terry Edwards whose multi-tracked worrying roars gradually
conjure up Dante-esque visions of distress. The power
of Edwards’ playing is further emphasised by the
pensive guitar figure that loops throughout the piece.
Franko B narrates a suitably grim tale on No One
Saw The Difference. Its opening line is “Little
Mary is pronounced dead at 3.27 am,” while it
closes with “Like Spring, like all that is new
and fresh. It turns my guts.” His voice is more
than a little reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock’s
favourite anti-heroes, Pete Lorre. Franko B is also
credited with the CD artwork, which is a rather fine
series of black on black paintings, their forms picked
out only by light falling upon texture. The venerable
Alan Vega’s contribution to When The Sun Turns
To Numbers is rather fine and comes across as a
sort of obsessive/reflexive crooning.
If the likes of Throbbing Gristle
or Merzbow raise your pulse from its routine murmur,
then you’ll want to check this out. If not, then
Protocol may just prove a little too full of
dread and dismay.
Colin Buttimer
3/5 |
