Giraffe People - Custom Russian Roulette

 

Released: July 28

While definitely in the realm of harsh noise, Giraffe People's latest album Custom Russian Roulette crosses over heavily into the unique world of plunderphonics, at least on the first half of the album. Bits of static exist but are constantly overtaken by the weird and twisted bits of tape music playing out portions of completely unrecognizable music, which can only be identified as music due to its vague similarity to recorded music. In between these severely warped bits of music, we get massive amount of noise interspersed with bizarrely warped vocal samples that have been chipmunked and heavily effected. Its a captivating approach that reminds of techniques commonly heard in vaporwave, except run through a small batch of nightmare fuel and then partially lit on fire. 

The second part, "No Dirty Campers," largely continues this motif although it seems to take the semi-recognizable sampling to a new extreme with a great deal more unrecognizable noise peppered in. When it comes to the musicality, it's even more faint in how recognizable it is. Rather, these pieces have been shortened and distorted into what are practically screams, except for those brief moments of clarity. Both sides have a certain air to them, one that seems to celebrate the musical sampling while also transforming them into something slightly terrifying. It comes off as a very novel attempt, one that took me at least two or three listens to fully grasp.