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LP
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KHZ 1009LP
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Damage Mécanique thrusts the listener into a malfunctioning industrial sci-fi soundscape. Trance-inducing guitars beckon with haunting wails, high-tension wires spin and spit with a crackling hiss. Circular kosmische rhythms and anxiety-drenched beats destroy and rebuild around fractured melodies and noise. The band oxidizes and melts into experimental post-punk and acousmatic environments as hypnotic groove and vertigo copulate in cinematic assemblage. Drawing from elements of film noir, psychedelic exotica, experimental rock, deviant surf and musique concrète, Diminished Men refocus their influences into something entirely unique. Collaged with menacing electricity, the raw materials are broken up and reassembled in their crude private facility. The group has spent more than a decade crafting their style and have established themselves as an integral part of Seattle's underground music scene. Diminished Men are an instrumental group formed by guitarist Steve Schmitt, drummer Dave Abramson (Master Musicians of Bukkake, Climax Golden Twins, Secret Chiefs 3, Spider Trio) and bassist Simon Henneman. Their 2005 first full length Names of the Dead introduced the band's jagged, hard-charging approach and cinema obscura ethos. A bizarre series of cassettes American Volume Swells and their Six O' Clock Baby album revealed a raw and unchecked side of the band through live recordings, improvisations and collage. It was their 2009 Shadow Instrumentals LP on the Sun City Girls label, Abduction Records, that got the band wider recognition for their creative and distinctive sound. Followed by Capnomancy and Vision in Crime, they cemented their status as formidable figures, developing a dedicated audience of audiophiles who found themselves entranced by Diminished Men's high energy live performances.
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LP
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ABDT 056LP
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Distorted through a shattered lens, Diminished Men refocus hard-boiled cinema and classic instrumental music into something entirely unique. Vision in Crime, their third LP on Sun City Girls' Abduction label, unfolds like a paranormal detective story full of delinquent exotica, deranged noir, hyperventilating surf, and shortwave radio nightmares. Opening number "Chamber," an apparition of a forensics crime scene investigation, sets the tone but quickly spirals into the cobra-twilight guitar work of Steve Schmitt on the Aegean Sea-inspired espionage-surf track "Oistros Dolorous." From here the band's mutant lounge carnage weaves through sinister cityscapes and plazas, kudzu-infested forests on the avant-spy jazz of "Kudzu Mine," lost island noir, hallucinatory gamelan rock, and phantom radio dispatches. By the time that mickey sets in, the title-track, a hauntingly gorgeous ballad, closes out the album. Diminished Men possess dangerous musical minds pulsing with nervous electricity, shattering Fender reverb, explodo-free jazz, and gorgeous, sometimes romantic melancholy. Featuring Steve Schmitt on guitars, drummer Dave Abramson (Master Musicians of Bukkake), and Simon Henneman on Bass VI. Vision in Crime includes special guest recording appearances by saxophonists Skerik (Critters Buggin, Garage a Trois, Wayne Horvitz) and Neil Welch (Bad Luck, King Tears Bat Trip). Limited edition of 500.
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LP
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ABDT 048LP
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By distorting hard-boiled film music through a cracked, overcast lens, Diminished Men refocus their influences into something entirely unique. Capnomancy, their second release on the Abduction label, is a collection of stark, exotic instrumentals full of high-tension energy and infected terror. Cloaked in a supernatural fog and man-made electrical storms, chiaroscuro landscapes read like a sci-fi postcard with a giallo ransom note attached. The band's jagged, hard-charging approach evokes images of slit jugulars and accelerated heart rates, all the while swathing you in a blissful claustrophobia, reflecting elements of Morricone's dissonant horror scores, gritty noir cues, and the bloodshot nerves of a kratom-hazed Link Wray. Distant, searing guitars and pummeling drums seep with slow-pan derangement, panicked suspense and clouded '50s Americana delusion. The smoke clears and reveals a mirage of melancholy Wenders-esque backdrops and AM radio nightmares, but quickly returns to some other world that it came from. The final album to be released from his now-defunct Aleph Studio, producer Randall Dunn (Sunn O))), Earth, Secret Chiefs 3, Wolves In The Throne Room, etc.) contributes greatly with his visceral, heavy production, making this album their darkest offering yet. Another bizarre series of degenerate no-hit wonders from the phantom guitars of Steve Schmitt, drummer Dave Abramson and multi-instrumentalist Simon Henneman. Capnomancy features guest appearances from members of Master Musicians Of Bukkake as well as other Northwest delinquents, saxophonist Skerik and vocalist Sara Johanne. Extremely limited edition of 400 LP copies.
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