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Review: 'IX Tab'
'R.O.C.'   

-  Album: 'R.O.C.' -  Label: 'Twiggwytch Recordings'
-  Genre: 'Ambient' -  Release Date: '14th February 2015'

Our Rating:
Initially released on Exotic Pylon Records before it seemingly evaporated from the face of the planet, Saxon Roach’s album ‘R.O.C’ recorded under the IX Tab moniker finally, properly, sees the light of day courtesy of Twiggwytch Recordings,

Brace yourselves: here’s what to expect... ‘R.O.C. attempts to understand the frequencies of all manner of things, blending folk and glitch, noise, drone and electronica, alongside spoken word and even some happy little slices of 90s rave, ambient and 4th World trance.’

Really? If I were 20 years younger, I’d doubtless be asking ‘wtf’? But I’m 39 years of age and versed in avant-garde and postmodern theory, not to mention a lifetime of listening to weird fringe shit, so I figure it’s worth a punt.

From the slow-trailing ambience of the first track, ‘Parhelion’, with its subdued, almost subliminal beats and roboticized vocal sampling, to the ambient Krautrock of ‘The Sweet Track’, ‘R.O.C’ builds an ambitious sound collage.

‘A Drunken Bone (Of Chrome)’ is disorientating and unsettling, a spoken word vocal track that sounds like a distorted sample of William S. Burroughs skips and crackles over a woozy analogue synth line, while the pulsating tribal rhythms that clatter through ‘Blasted’ reflect the pancultural nature of IX Tab’s influences and reference points.

There are no shortage of weird noises and samples, from cacophonous wildlife and sonorous drones, to the disturbing chatter of children against ominous fear chords. There are numerous moments that evoke the spirit of Throbbing Gristle. It’s by no means an easy or comfortable listen. And that’s precisely why it’s a great album.

IX Tab Online
  author: Christopher Nosnibor

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IX Tab - R.O.C.