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MH-222 Octavius - Audio Noir  Octavius has strived to perfect his stunning amalgam of hip-hop, electronic and avant-rock music in the San Francisco underground over the past four years. This dedication has culminated in his Mush full-length release Audio Noir. Serving as a slight departure from the beats and noise frenzy that ignited a buzz around his 2001 work with 4AM, the new release looks to establish Octavius as a purveyor of even more elaborate territories of sound. Experimental freak-outs collide with classic song structures, tension and attitude give way to raw vulnerability, and Octavius' vocal and production techniques are employed to unnerving effect. Audio Noir adds previously missing darkness and edge to the Mush catalog in a way that overwhelms, thrills, and astonishes in equal measure. |
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| Reviews Summary |
| An important record - LA Weekly / Literally unforgettable - Industrial Nation / Delicious left-field despondency - Outburn / Great invention and blasted beauty throughout - The Wire / A tense, aggressive and surprisingly beautiful album that dares you to define it as hip-hop - Signal to Noise / A new flavor of hop that's dangerous and mesmerizing - San Francisco Examiner |
| Reviews |
| The title baldly declares William Marshall's intentions. Think cinematic, think gloomy, think malevolent. But banish thoughts of the darkly romantic jazz-pop of classic film noir. Octavius' mise-en-laptop is more experimental film than revival house thriller. His pink noise compositions evoke stark and modern urban decay, mostly eurhythmic tone paintings in bleak shades of feedback, muffled vocals and druggy electronics. If the lyrics bear a political edge, the message disappears beneath a mass of industrial noise and effects. With its hypnotic pace and spacey keyboards, Audio Noir recalls both Michael Oldfield and Plastiq Phantom. When Octavius scrapes away the sinister blare, only a digital languor remains. - Resonance |
2XLP/Out Of Print