Parlay Droner - Mother Brother Live Sessions

Sonic wizard Parlay Droner is neck deep in projects and releases right now, and the fruits of these labors are sure to break your ears hearts as well as your ears drums! Big ups to Quantum Wampum for putting this little gem out.

For this release Parlay Droner went down to Mother Brother Studios to do a live improv session which was recorded by Matthew Vitti, owner and operator of Mother Brother. Side A opens with some shrill noises as an intro before becoming a multi-layered cacophony of buzzing and hums. Distorted samples of advertisements click in and out of the hum as it builds. The buzzing drops into the extremely low end area of the EQ into sounds you can literally feel. The sound transforms and warps into several different states before some really harsh sounds come in to create a blistering experience. This cuts into softer and much more eerie warped ghostly notes. This part is extremely meditative and warm. Light and soft area ambiance takes over some of the layers as it builds back up with whispering hisses. Are these hissing notes samples of flutes? Who knows! A beat begins and sludgy noise fills the environment and covers it like a blanket. One synth note cuts through the cacophony and stands alone like a buzz saw changing tones. More muddy notes blend in and cover the environment again as the next part begins. This next part is my favorite part of this side. Dark and deep and menacing, this is like a glimpse into a slow motion nightmare. This part starts around the 15 minute mark. Side A of this tape is a true to form improv for Parlay, who is currently at the top of his game.

Side B starts with a blast INSTANTLY with a cloud of hissing and low fuzz. As this reverberates off there is a faint distorted drum machine busting out a solid beat. It gets off the charts harsh from that point, warping to a slow and throbbing gain explosion of super low and super high frequencies. The low end really takes over as it goes, traveling deeper and deeper into windy bass territory with a vibrant and piercing distorted treble sound. Jangly repetitive rhythmic sounds join in to keep you from zoning out too hard. Fierce waves of sonic tide come in and toss the listener this way and that. A voice that sounds nearly underwater is speaking plainly, it sounds like a sample from something instructional. Then Parlay does one of the many things he is especially good at, he starts manning the drum machine manually. After some beats a new sound bleeds into the mix, something akin to a low frequency slide whistle or maybe a pedal steel sample. Whatever it is is bends up and down and adds an extremely unnerving and eerie element to the mix. This then turns into various sliding synth sounds working together to keep you from getting your balance. A slow mean beat starts as the background buzz becomes blistering again, and no sooner does it start then it stops and we are nearly underwater again struggling to keep our heads above. We hear the advertisement sample from the beginning of Side A again and some other tape samples too, as this session comes to a warm and beautiful close.

Parlay is the man to watch, as his catalog grows his grasp on his sound strengthens and becomes more realized. Pick up a cassette when you see him live or go to Quantum Wampum's Bandcamp page and order one!