United Scum Soundclash (CD)
by U.S.S.
United Scum Soundclash is the first volume in an ongoing series of collaborations between musicians from the Soopa and Radon collectives. For this release, various hours of improvisations were recorded and then painstakingly edited and sculpted into 9 tracks by producer Jonathan Saldanha, in a process very similar to the sampling and sequencing strategies of hip-hop, albeit with samples provided by the very participants in the album.
Featuring Jonathan Saldanha, Filipe Silva and Miguel Cardoso from Soopa, and Scott Nydegger, Steve Mackay (sax player for the legendary Stooges) and Kamil Kruta (collaborator of The Residents and Lydia Lunch) from Radon, U.S.S. brings together elements of improvisation, free-jazz, psychedelic rock, breakcore, noise, dub and concrète sound collage into a unified whole that very nearly maps the whole of Soopa's sonic universe.
The production duo of Saldanha and Nydegger continue to assemble subsequent volumes of U.S.S., involving an international network of contributing musicians.
Tracklisting:
- “And They Welcomed Thy Glory” (3:49)
- For Ladies And Gentlemen (5:51)
- Folk You (2:11)
- Mother Of Vibration (3:11)
- “And They Welcomed Thy Radiance” (4:30)
- Return Of The Flatliners (8:01)
- Subtle Rebuttle (4:44)
- Scum Release Orchestra (4:12)
- “And They Stood At The Heart Of Thy Network” (3:39)
Soopa Scum:
- Jonathan Saldanha aka Cactus Man - drums, extended trumpet, electronics, vynil, tabla, harmonica.
- Miguel Cardoso aka Autoblack - double bass, bass guitar, electronics.
- Filipe Silva aka The Banshee - prepared guitar, walkman, bow
- Addicional sound processing by Jonathan Saldanha and Eduardo Barbosa
Radon Scum:
- Scott Nydegger - drum pad, samples, head bashing
- Steve Mackay - saxophone on track 2
- Kamil Kruta - processed vocals on tracks 3 & 4
Produced by Saldanha/Nydegger
- Mixed by Saldanha at Doom Dub Studio
- Mastered by Ivo Magalhães at Imstudio
- Design by Cardoso and Saldanha
Video
Press articles
United Scum Soundclash - "United Scum Soundclash"
"Discreetly ornamental hand-drumming, well-recorded, is how the collective ensemble United Scum Soundclash commences with the opening track on this impressive self-titled release, "And They Welcomed Thy Glory." Then United Scum Soundclash drops down a large, long, dark and resonant shaft into some kind of chamber where electronics are not a drag; rather, they are something dragged along a floor. Wisely, the following track, titled "Ladies and Gentlemen," kicks right in after the other one sounds like it was shot by a crossbow, or simply unplugged. Perhaps it is actually a cheap boombox malfunctioning in the listener's house, not the recording session. Such a suspicion immediately validates the glowing rating for this effort, as dictated by one of the essential guidelines of record reviewing; the fear of broken equipment is inspired by listening to only the best sides. The setting for this one is Porto, Portugal, but the presence of veteran progressive rock saxophonist Steve Mackay is one of several indications of an international influence. In one sense exuberance is an even more important quality; the track with Mackay goes the all-too familiar route of saxophonist with funky rhythm track, but surprisingly, the view from alongside the road turns out to be of giant robots made out of tin cans. A triumvirate of madcap multi-instrumentalists hiding under silly stage names (Jonathan Cactus hhy, Filipe The Banshee and Miguel Autoblack) is augmented only here and there by Mackay, electronic drummer Scott Nydegger, and the effectively creepy processed vocal tracks credited to Kamil Kruta. The main trio hardly needs all that much help, the blindfolded set of ears treated to "And They Welcomed Thy Radiance" or "Folk You" easily becomes overwhelmed by a barrage of electric and acoustic percussion, harmonica, trumpet, electric keyboards, flute, electric bass, tablas, and guitar. Like the infamous Porto sandwich, "the French lady," combining fried egg, steak, ham, sausage, and cheese, the magic is in the sauce. In this case the players have stirred up a glowing blend of the processed and the natural, distortion and reality, the sampled and the trampled."
Eugene Chadbourne (2005) All Music Guide
United Scum Soundclash - "United Scum Soundclash"
"Combining musicians of the Porto-based Soopa collective, one of the most dynamic entities of the Portuguese underground, with international musicians linked to the Radon collective, among them Steve Mackay (tenor saxophone player for the Stooges on "Funhouse", and also a collaborator of the Violent Femmes), "United Scum Soundclash" is a slap in the face of anybody who can't see beyond the horizon of their own musical allegiances. Partly free-jazz, partly electronica and partly rock, this music relates to a diseased urban scenario, albeit an extremely seductive one, always looking in the face of chaos and the forms it creates. A dadaist music, shaped by insanity and excess, with no aesthetic limitations, imponent yet mysterious, invasive but markedly indifferent to the listener's preconceptions. In these times when most musical creations seem to rest on tried-out strategies, even when they're presented as a new hybrid of formely uncombined forms, "United Scum Soundclash" pulls the rug from under the listener's feet. This record's lack of exposure is, without doubt, due to fact that a lot of people have been suffering from absent-mindedness!"
Rui Eduardo Paes (2005) www.rep.no.sapo.pt
United Scum Soundclash - "United Scum Soundclash"
"What we have here is a quirky and original jam from Portugal that combines the attitude of the most antisocial kinds of free jazz experimentation with the sounds and tools of industrial noise. Unlike many bands, however, United Scum Soundclash use computers to break up the structure of the raw material, deliberately subverting the usual role of the sequencer as enforcer of motoric authority. This kind of thing clearly won't be to everyone's taste, but I have a soft spot for people like Bladder Flask and Steven Stapleton and the musical celebration of all things Dadaist and unpredictable, and United Scum Soundclash are clearly in the same tradition."
connexionbizarre (2005) - www.connexionbizarre.net
United Scum Soundclash - "United Scum Soundclash"
"United Scum Soundclash" presents music as an universal language through an association of sounds with profoundly urban experiences, combining insane free-jazz with extremely experimental electronics. If not for anything else, this album would be commendable for the experience it grants the listener; it becomes even more relevant if you manage to stay lucid enough to contemplate the wonderful process of construction and deconstruction present throughout its length."
Samuel Jerónimo (2005) - www.phono.com.sapo.pt
United Scum Soundclash - "United Scum Soundclash"
"To Portugal the session album by the metamorphosis which is collected from in the world. Scum of all the 9 tune entering 40 parts. As for participation artist, Jonathan Cactus Man, Miguel Autoblack, Filipe The Banshee, Scott Nydegger,
Ove-Naxx (software-rendered translation of original Japanese review, 2006) www.accelmuzhik.net
