Touching Extremes (Italy, July
2006 by Massimo Ricci)
JOSETXO
GRIETA - Reminder of
a precious life (Audiobot)
The "revolutionary" power
trio comprising Josetxo Anitua (vocals), Mattin (guitar & noises)
and Inigo Eguillor (drums & percussion) is at home both with
handmade explosions of venomous dissonance and sibylline whispers of
silently mounting rage morphed into words that bath in desperate
awareness and effective nihilism. The four messages delivered here
constitute a continuity link to La Grieta's "Hermana hostia" (see
below) minus the bitter sarcasm and with a more "acid" disposition as
far as the music is concerned. It's incredible how Mattin sounds Mattin
even with just a guitar; on the other hand, Anitua - who wrote all the
lyrics - and Eguillor are an unlikely duo of companions, perfect for
the low-budget blasphemy of this venture and gifted with a thoroughly
uncontrollable anarchic spirit which can almost be smelled. "Reminder
of a precious life" is sonic dust which refuses to be swept away.
Z-GUN (USA)
Josetxo Grieta Reminder
of a Precious Life CD (Audiobot)
"I'm destroyed. Not dead cuz I'm destroyed" are the
words that open this 30+ minute 4-song CD. As nihilistic as those words
read,
the "songs" here are even more so. With guitar scrapes, feedback,
silence, whispers, screaming, abstract drumming, hypnotic beats, and
some wheezing Grieta, Mattin (of Billy Bao among other things), and
Inigo Eguilor fuck with space and try to destroy sound. I felt
challenged and impatient my first listen through. I was a bit more
generous the second time around, and started to appreciate the wreckage
of Grieta and pals on listen number three. At first I was trying to
find a center to the songs. Impossible, as Reminder... has no skeleton.
However it does have a skin, a very pliant hide, one that is as elastic
as it is shape shifting. Not for the meek. -- SS
Ruta
66 (Abril 2007, Barcelona)
============
VITAL WEEKLY
============
number 531
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week 25
------------June 2006
Whatever the relation is of La Grieta with Josetxo Grieto, I don't
know, but it lists Josetxo Anitua on vocals and lyrics, Mattin on
guitar and noises and Inigo Eguillor on drums and percussion. This is a
like the La Grieta work, except that its heavier and more related to
free rock versus improvisation. Recorded with much distortion, both
during the playing and probably some added afterwards, this is a more
powerful work than the La Grieta release. Quite intense and furious.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.mattin.org
Address: http://www.freaksendfuture.com
Bagatellen
(June 2006)
Audiobot
BOT 197
“Reminder of a Precious Life” isn’t entirely dissimilar, though with
just four tracks the music wanders a bit closer to the longer cuts from
“Hermano Hostia”. Again, I get a little bit of a sense of, if not DNA
specifically, the sort of climate that existed in the late 70s-early
80s when some strains of punk began to mix with free jazz and improv
elements. Eguillor’s drums do tend to keep to rhythms, fragmented
though they may be and Anitua’s vocals usually lie somewhere on a
continuum from Lindsay to, oh, Yamatsuka Eye. It’s really Mattin’s
guitar and other noises that fill out the songs, providing what grist
there is to be had. That said, the more lugubrious pacing in this set
wears thin after a bit, reaching a low point on “Precious life #1”,
where the repeated refrain, “even when the sun goes down”, is endlessly
either warbled mock-falsetto or gargled, sounding somewhat like what
I’d expect from the unearthly spawn of Diamanda Galas and Tiny Tim. The
final track picks things up a bit with a good, steady throb and
insistent beat but a little late. Of the two reviewed here, I’ll take
the freebie.
Audiobot’s website is here
though I see no mention of this recording at the moment.
Posted by Brian Olewnick on June 25, 2006 05:22 PM
discography
w.m.o/record label
desetxea net label
www.mattin.org