Cassette Review // Alex Cunningham and Damon Smith "A View From the Gutters Could Be a Vision of the World" (Personal Archives)

https://personalarchives.bandcamp.com/album/a-view-from-the-gutters-could-be-a-vision-of-the-world

This begins with bass and percussion, which lead it into this chaotic sound like skramz.  It can grow deep into the bass like JAWS, but it can also get on the higher side like Psycho.   The interesting thing about this is I read the notes before listening and this is actually Alex Cunningham on the violin and Damon Smith on the bass, so even though the bass can sound like percussion at times there is no percussion as far as I can tell by the credits.

As tones come in with a pleasant going up the scale feel there is also this sharpness, as if rubbing a balloon that is about to pop.   As the violin gets sharper and higher pitched it feels as if we're rolling a bowling ball down a hallway.   The entire sound now becomes frantic and full of suspense.   The sound becomes more like footsteps but also the quickness seems to lead up to this explosion of sound, which feels like the end of the first song.

In the next song the sound is scrambling, like rodents, as the bass drops in with heavy effect.   This sound is lighter than before, more delicate.   It feels as if there is a ringing, such as bells, but then also this knocking which percussion would make, a certain banging.   Scraping now builds the intensity and it feels like a bubble about to burst.   This also goes back and forth a little bit, as if we're using one of those really long saws to cut down a really big tree.

The sound continues to wind and expand, feeling as if we're stuck inside of this spiderweb and every string is just twisting and creating these sounds as we move and struggle to become free.   Within all of this there is also that trill which makes me think of insects, which goes with the spiderweb idea, and then the dramatic strings come in as well to set the tone.  

On the flip side this goes right back into the chaos but this time it sounds more like strings just doing as they please and I don't hear the percussion as much as I did on the first side.   There is  a back and forth drama but it remains unhinged as the song goes on.   As much as this can sound like "Everyone play as loud and fast as you can"- a punk mentality on instruments not traditionally associated with punk rock, there is as much of a classical side to all of this just as well.

We slowly get into some quieter creaking now, on the next song, and it feels like a door gently being opened.  A single bass note sounds and it comes to an end.   Some scraping now.   A little bit of a flutter and a little bit of a shake.   As this sound feels like it's trying to expand, a feeling like a ball bouncing can be heard behind it.   Though I'm not sure what, it just feels like we're cutting away at something and then a note hits like drop-by-drop going into a bucket.   Sharpness and then it feels like Flight of the Bumblebee before it all just turns into this pounding.   Everything comes crashing through like thunder.

The next song begins with those creaky strings but then turns into a rhythmic banging.   As it can grow larger and louder it can become also smaller and quieter, all of which can happen within moments of each other.   It really does begin to feel like a large amount of percussion is reigning down by the end, and then as it reaches the end of the second side there is this pop which makes me feel like the balloon has finally burst.