Skull Vacuum is the duo of long time collaborators Chris Phinney (Memphis, TN) and Jeff Chenault (Columbus, OH). Both are 30+ year veterans of the homemade music cassette culture underground, with Chris having run the Harsh Reality Music tapes label and Jeff first with the I.T.N. label, which morphed into the Exoteque Music label.
Burn Sees Dark is a set of 7 tracks of experimental yet beautiful space-ambience that strikes at various points along the intense-dreamy and noisy-dreamy axis.
'Dust' opens the set and would more appropriately be titled 'DustSTORM'. Under the headphones I feel like my brain has been sucked into a tornadic vortex, the highlight being pulsating wind tunnel howls. I like the blend of steadily minimal electro beats and lusciously fluttering soundscapes on 'Corpse Flower'. 'Calefaction' is a journey into noisily meditative space, which is simultaneously grating and serene. It's like rocket ship blastoff, alien effects, and ambient drift, all rolled into one. 'Crinkle' is a stellar example of Chris and Jeff's flair for music that is both noisy and dreamy and is one of the most intense of the set. It's like a rocket blasting through space, and yet somehow shrouded in peaceful drift. 'Never Get Enough' is like the hauntingly spaced out soundtrack to a sci-fi ghost story. 'Accoutrements' has what sounds like a stoner bass that creates cool electronic robot riffage, surrounded by a chorus of alien insects and ambient static. And 'Trinket' has lots of sharp, abrupt attack effects, pulsations, gurgles, deep bass beat-tones, and heavenly ambient flow. GREAT job Chris and Jeff! In avant-space we trust!!
Burn Sees Dark is a limited edition of 100 CDs housed in a nifty fold out package. Proceed benefit Chris, who in late 2019 was hit by a car walking across the street, and the driver had no insurance. PM Chris or Jeff for ordering information.
- Jerry Kranitz
