electrical injuries by jim haynes

"rarely does an artist’s personal statement sum up their work as accurately as jim haynes’: “i rust things.”

for decades, haynes has operated within, and contributed to, the nebula of bay area experimental music. true to his statement, his work is bound by entropy, capturing the sound (or the sight, or the feel) of decay across various media. morbid as that may sound, haynes discovers creation within destruction, and builds entire worlds within things falling apart.

electrical injuries is haynes’ latest lp, and like all of his musical works, it is entirely built on texture, atmosphere, and the manipulation (and corrosion) of raw sound. (a cursory reading of the album’s press release, and its passage titles, suggest that ice and electricity are primary sound sources.) unlike many of his previous works, which could understatedly be described as “calm,” electrical injuries is intense, thrilling, and caustic. but it speaks to haynes’ maturity as an artist that not once does it suffer the fate which befalls most noise records: a tendency towards juvenility, towards aggression for aggression’s sake, and a complete disregard for subtlety.

you’ll find none of that here. electrical injuries is fierce and uncompromising, but it’s judicious in its furor; haynes knows precisely when to pull the throttle and when to ease up. in fact, electrical injuries reminds me of another american artist whose whispered susurrus and blistered drones evoke potent, uncanny sensation: david lynch, whose soundtrack (or “sound design”) on the rebooted twin peaks is a noise masterwork.

any listener interested in experimental music, or simply interested in exploring the limits of their own listening, would be wise to seek out this superb record." -- chris zaldua / kqed

Tracklist

1.	falling through ice	6:08

2.	choked on brine	6:49

3.	operator	6:30

4.	in brief	0:59

5.	acerbic, convulsive	7:54

6.	autosuggestion	11:18

Credits

released June 15, 2017

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