WYXZ

Straight out of Paris, NY comes one of the new experimental acts off of the newly found Bachelor of Science Records in the form of the bizarre musical entity WYWZ (no idea if this is actually pronounced) with its debut eponymous release. Considering the credits say all instruments, editing and producing are handled by WYXZ i will have to assume that this is a one-man band who takes us on one wild ride as this musical roller coaster twists and turns around all kinds of corners and tackles many types of musical worlds in its trajectory, exploring different genres before moving on into something totally different.

You could call this the Mr Bungle effect but this is more bizarre, less focused and really not melodic at all. The first track 'Dead With My Bell' is a mix of heavy distorted math rock that often drops out and allows detached electronic segments to industrially drone on for a while with only small sounds creating some sort of patterned parade through its playtime. 'Kick The Compound' is even stranger as it is a sound collage of everything from animal noises and UFOs with avant-prog guitars jarring in and out of the soundscape. Shorter tracks like 'WVMVN' and 'Chaffed Arabs ((Pt'tsk')' are purely experimental electronica that modulates pitches and bends them into free improvising weirdness.

The lion's share of the album goes to 'Affordables Foreclosed' which swallows up a whole third of the album just shy of the 17 minute mark. This is one bizarre track as it opens with a squawking synth line that becomes joined by a looping piano riff and more of the avant-garde electronica as the off-kilter counterpoints slowly build but then it all fades away and the ambient haze ushers in a new freak show all together. So this track could in fact be considered many tracks all stitched together and called a single unit. As it continues it goes into new strange worlds with uniquely odd textures, some noisy, some calm and placid but all equally alienating and utterly freaky. Percussive lines emerge and disappear. Pseudo-melodies albeit brief and atonal appear and fade away. It's one avant-assembly line of freaky fecundity.

'Tossing Of Rock' is the most rocking of the album with heavy guitars, beefy bass and slamming drums although somewhat melophobic as it eschews true melodies and just skirts them by opting a avant-prog avenue instead. 'Blasphemous Blanket' follows suit in a stranger and slowed down way with free range guitars weaving around atmospheric ambience. 'Shar Edged, Rigid Ended' is more percussion driven as freaky industrial sounds dance around it before totally turning into a parade of bloops and bleeps with some sort of lounge piano music softly joining in. Of course nothing on this one stays the same for long so it goes through a series of changes before ending the album with yet another bizarre track 'Rip That Subtle' which excels in sound manipulation as it sounds like processed and reverberated sounds forced to perform against their will while industrial gurgles and angular guitars find ways to mix their possibilities.

This is my kind of avant-prog meets noise album laced with electronic experimentalism and math rock as it really takes you for an unpredictable journey through the unknown. While some would say this is woefully unfocused and even pointless, i would argue that those qualities are exactly what makes this appealing. These are not hummable tunes or even sounds you will find replicating themselves in your head. This is one of those types of albums that is seemingly random yet obviously constructed under the surface and designed to conjure up alien sonicscapes where absolutely anything is possible. While there are a gazillion experimental albums out there these days drawing on similar concepts, WYXZ is a master of taking many different ideas and having them emerge in unforeseen ways that allow the listener to not only feel startled by to become hypnotized as well. This one is pretty cool.