Extra Life is the current project of Charlie Looker, multi-instrumentalist composer who was in the “brutalist chamber group” Zs and worked with Brooklyn heroes The Dirty Projectors. Using what was described as a combination of “Medieval change, hardcore, dark neofolk abstract modernism and lush pop” there is a degree of intimidation up front, as though a modern listener going into this for the first time may be intimidated, as though the disparate intellectualist genre touch points will scare off those who aren’t open minded enough to at least give it a shot.

In the actual act of listening to Splayed Flesh (Socket Records) it’s like listening to Tilt-era Scott Walker meets early death rock and in the act of listening, the listener not cowed into submission. Even those with just a passing familiarity of medieval music that extends to that weird era in the late 90s when there are a million chanting monk CDs in stores and listening to movie scores to get a grasp of “modern orchestral” music will find pieces of familiarity which will allow them to grab hold and begin to examine the music as it stands on its own, divorced of context.

Splayed Flesh is an EP made up of two distinct parts. There are compositions from Made Flesh, the second album from Extra Life, interspersed with remixes of those songs by divergent, though dark, musicians such as Tyondi Braxton (Battles), JG Thirlwell (Foetus, The Venture Bros. soundtracks) Caley Monahan-Ward (violinist for Extra Life) and Justin Broadrick (Godflesh).

The first of the original compositions is “Head Shrinker,” a rather nasty piece which opens with the admonition of a “fancy lad” who wasted his parent’s inheritance and a kind of primitive, subtle percussive rhythm as the vocal elements drive the song forward, and a mocking saxophone rises up from and adds to the cloying nature of the song.

The remixes of this song lose nearly all stems of the whole, yet manage to capture and rip the mask of civility of the original piece to reveal the deranged menace beneath. Braxton’s remix cuts the vocals down to a quickly stuttering roar that never gains
comprehension subverting itself to become the bass for the song. It goes on a bit long with little beyond the drums, the vocals and sampled turntablist scratch which expands across the sound floor to pan into infinity. It started as my favorite remix but the simple
nature of it caused my interest to be lost rather quickly.

Caley Monahon-Ward’s remix sounds closer to the original while also sounding like the inside of a nightmare. Echoing reverbed percussive elements, garrote thin strings slicing into the song, the vocals stretched to tortured chopped and the melody slowed down, replaced, haunting the whole piece.

The song “Made Flesh” carries itself like the dying scion of all that is death rock determined to die with dignity. It contains the ponderous, enigmatic and marries to it a vocal styling which at times struck me as bel canto as Charlie Looker’s voice attack all points in the range on his vocal runs though it at times falls into near primal grunting
before the song climaxes as he chants “made flesh my secret” as the violin accompanies him to this height. The Justin K Broadrick remix of the song plays up the death rock angle with strong bass and crashes while minimizing the vocals.

The strongest, most dynamic song on the EP is “The Body Is True,” an eleven-minute genrevore that takes elements of IDM, minimalism, modern orchestral, noise and early industrial to create an effect much being tucked into a bed of razors. Comforting, but at the same time cutting and damaging. “The Body is True” builds to a subtler, but no less
powerful climax as the Charlie’s singing vanishes beneath a staccato chant “Masterpiece / Masterpiece.”

The JG Thirwell remix of this song removes all but the chanting, replacing all of the song with Meat Beat Manifesto styled dance music that sounds like part traditionally Black college drumline, part acid breaks. And it also sounds like industrial music that went into hiding when metal took over large parts of that scene. It’s a bit of a nostalgia trip, which seems like an accurate enough end point for a remix for a project that is determined to look backwards.

Splayed Flesh is out now on Sockets Records and it is well worth your time, even if it sounds intimidating or out of your personal reach. The original compositions are challenging, but not more than most current indie rock and the remixes tease out hidden pieces of the originals and build upon them, putting their own stamp onto the music.

Charlie Looker and the rest of Extra Life are playing Death By Audio TONIGHT (6/23). Go see them and let me know if they’re as great live as they are on this EP.

Category : album Review