Wednesday, July 22, 2009

PAS

Broadcasting from Brooklyn, NY, to all the known points in the universe, is PAS.

Originally a solo project begun by Robert Pepper in 1995, the project remained a one man band until 2004, when Robert met Jon "Vomit" Worthley at a Genesis P. Orridge lecture. In 2007, Robert met and subsequently started dating Amber Brien; together these two people have helped Robert to fill out and stabilize the group.

The current line-up is divided this way:

Robert Pepper - Keyboards, percussion, loops, various analog
Amber Brien - Drums, Percussion, Bass, Electronics
Jon "Vomit" Worthley - Guitar, Effects, Electronics, various analog

Amber is also trained in Taiko, the Japanese drum art.

Taking their name from a religious pamphlet, PAS (post abortion stress) is a group out to create music according to their particular artistic vision, which is one of aberrant beauty and abstraction; their name refers metaphorically to those who have been aborted by society, those whose point of view doesn't fit in the constraints of "normal" society.

This viewpoint fuels their creativity. Since their inception the band has been interested in making music from the fringes of perception, creating soundscapes that aren't defined by any particular conventions or viewpoints; the aesthetic underpinnings are defined by the notion that music can be whatever is perceived by the ear. It's a conception fueled by a love of life and art and a desire for honest artistic self-expression.

The compositions themselves are more akin to soundscapes than "songs" in the traditional sense.
There are no clearly defined melodies, no structural landmarks that give you any sense of traditional anchor. This is not music making with any sense of or desire for commercial viability, but sonic sculptures in the mode of pure art.

During my usual round of questions that always forms a necessary part of the act of creation for me in this medium, I was given to understand that painters and writers are a huge influence on the band. This bit of information was highly revelatory for me, as the music this band makes has a very visual quality to it. Terms like "sound collage" spring to mind almost effortlessly.

I would go so far as to say that this love of visual media is the main thing informing this particular musical experience. Listening to these ethereal, shifting compositions leaves me feeling like I was journeying through an alien landscape, taking in the shape of the land, the types of flora and fauna; at the same time searching for the inhabitants, but never finding another person, only knowing of their existence through bits of information, voices carried on the wind, and sounds of "civilized" existence.

The sense of being alone imparted by the music is not a criticism. On the contrary, as mentioned above, it is an essential element in the overall design. "Old Mirrors New," the tenth track from the album "The Lyre Speaketh," is a perfect example of this. The track doesn't begin in the traditional sense so much as cohere from nothing, the sounds of the piece gradually building until we find ourselves immersed in an ethereal soundworld.

As the piece unfolds, we hear some type of intoning counterpointed against wooden flutes, as if we are listening to the enactment of some solemn mystic rite. The accompaniment for this track has the quality of a hammer or a shovel, digging at very hard ground. This has the tendency of heightening the sense of ritual engagement that the intoning voices seems to impress on our consciousness.

The space in between these two elements is filled in with a very atmospheric type of sound, high pitched and quiet, more an intimation of atmosphere than anything else. This element has the effect of heightening the hallucinatory element of the piece, as if we are experiencing this scene under the influence of something intoxicating, or perceiving in a trancelike state.

For another example of the bands approach to music, let us turn to the title track on the album.

The effect of this piece has a more unsettling quality to it. Part of it has to do with the bassline, a ponderous, low-brass timbred affair that sounds like a whole tone scale, or at the least part of one, re-iterated at intervals with a quiet relentlessness. This is played against a repetitive figure on what sounds like a Koto, which in turn is played against a vague screaming sound. The overall effect is stunning in itself, evoking some alien landscape of foreign dimensions.

All this from a three piece. The amount of layered sound they manage to produce gives the impression of a much larger ensemble, but this is just indicative of their talent, and the focus they bring to bear on their vision. They are one of the most engaging groups I have encountered in some time, due to the idiosyncratic nature of their philosophical view of music and the way in which they realize this philosophy by their output.

In keeping with their deep interest in visual media, there are several videos available on their MySpace page.

As of this writing the band has four albums available. They are “Intro to Jesus”, “The Lyre Speaketh”, “Antarctic Tribe”, and “We Have Discovered Your Mother’s Body.” All of these are available at www.cdbaby.com or iTunes and various internet dealers.

Check 'em out at:

www.myspace.com/postabortionstress

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