REVIEW:

The discography of Ernesto Diaz-Infante runs from professional, elegant solo improv records to more informal collaborative sessions and bottom-end, lo-fi experiments. In that regard, a comparison with Eugene Chadbourne is in order. This eponymous 60-minute cassette released by the D.I.Y. label Seagull is a lot more perplexing than good. Judging from their titles, the tracks were recorded on October 31 and November 1, 2001. It is impossible to tell if they were performed in one take or if overdubbing has been used. Side one presents a collection of found sounds, conversation, and mundane noises (especially computer-related: keyboard typing, mouse clicking, Windows booting, etc.) buried under an annoyingly minimalist drone. The tone, which sounds as if it is coming out of one of those cheap mid-'80s Casio synths, insists on drilling a hole in your head for half an hour, preventing any chance to listen up close to what goes on in its shadow. Side two at least offers more to grasp. Instruments and manipulated sound files populate a layer of background noise. More eventful, it has its moments (especially a highly deranged violin-and-grunts section). Both tracks cut abruptly when the tape runs out. To anyone who kept track of Diaz-Infante's piano output... more
credits
released September 15, 2002

Ernesto Diaz-Infante: computer hard drive noise drones, samples, keyboard typing, field recording, violin, voice, guitar, and piano.

Recorded at 699 Arguello, San Francisco, California. October/November 2001.

Originally released as a cassette on the Seagull label in 2002.