READ an interview with Andy Ortmann HERE
Andy Ortmann is a madman (as is, apparently, Seth Sher), and his Panicsville project just won’t quit, though he also works solo and in a cadre of other bands.
“My Pain Is Kept In A Screwed Shut Wooden Box In A Storage Facility That I Don’t Pay The Rent To” / “The Unstoppable Rise Of Aesthetic Perfectionism” is the perfect commercial for the long-form programs that are Ortmann’s full-length LPs.
“The Unstoppable Rise Of Aesthetic Perfectionism” lays scattered, strewn across the room; circuits, wires and burnt metal in heaps on the floor; then a slow tom-tom-thump forms the basis for a mesmerizing run that invokes a slow-motion Aa, that project Zach Hill did with Nels Cline (it’ll come to me in a minute … Damsel!), Burning Star Core minus the scorch, Mudboy with drums and Nurse With Wound. The trick is the manner in which the material is presented, as we get a full range of Panicsville shudders, all within the timeframe allotted by a 7-inch recording cut at 45 RPM.
As always the recording is impeccable. Ortmann does production work on the side and it’s helped the sound of his own work immeasurably. (In fact now that I think about it, the three tracks he sent in for the Going to Extremes Vol. 1 compilation were louder and crisper than that of the other bands. They hit hard and often.)
“My Pain Is Kept” might be even better, as it launches itself further into the extremeties of modern tape-drone haze and glitched digital burnout. In this case there are percussive elements present but no sign of actual drums, no rhythmic pulse so much as a general bob and weave. A few minutes in the ear is brutalized by a fair share of dental drilling — this will be familiar if you spend much time in the offices of Prurient or Aaron Dilloway — and the zooming whir of digital drone strikes. Many tend to hide in the bomb shelter when these wiry husks of electricity are launched like lightning bolts, but the best of you will stand your ground and hold to your post. THAT IS AN ORDER, in fact.
Call it a toss-up between a freakishly relentless, beastly Side A and a calmer, more polished Side B that still brings enough wood to build a cabin.
I wouldn’t go as far as to say Seth Sher is a madman. He just wants to rip off Magma in every way. Magma is an amazing band and doesn’t need a cheap clone. As for Panicsville /Ortmann. I’m pretty sure the world can do without them. The music is more often a miss than a hit. And if you have ever dealt with Ortmann, he cares only about himself. And is very difficult to work with when releasing his material. Very manipulative individual.
I appreciate you taking the time to comment but I have to disagree. In fact when I was batting the idea of doing a compilation around, Ortmann’s contributions (three tracks, all of them amazing) were what inspired me to follow through with the thankless project in the first place. Definitely a gentleman from my perspective. That’s Gumshoe’s take!