Altered Zones

On November 15th, the recently profiled NNA Tapes will release an LP from Nate Young, one of the label's first on wax. With a relentless tour history and wall-to-wall discography to his name, Young's tenure in the noise scene is evident. Beyond his founding role in the label AA Records and Midwest noise assailants Wolf Eyes, the staggering number of bands under his belt-- Stare Case, Moon Pool & Dead Band, Nautical Almanac, Waste Ground, Jean Street, Hatred, Demons-- makes one wonder if Young ever actually does sleep.

The artist describes Stay Asleep Regression Vol. 2 as a response to a few recent events his life-- namely, moving to a new studio space, and watching a friend grieve the loss of a loved one. As he often does, Young limits himself to a specific sound palette, shaping the rusted-factory plod of his first solo venture, simply called Regression, into somnambulist nightmare territories we encounter on Volume Two. Recently, Young described the album to Tiny Mix Tapes as a kind of talisman, or "hex sign": "I am not extremely superstitious, but I like the idea of distracting negative energy with art and holding it at bay." The sentiment may come as a surprise to those familiar with the craven, eponymous lyric of "Burn Your House Down",  the opening track on Wolf Eyes' 2001 standout album Dread. But truth be told, Young's entire body of work cultivates an assaultive darkness, fusing near-repulsive torpor with decadent bliss in an the aural equivalent of Fellini's Satyricon. It's not like we'd actually want to live in this paradigm, but it's fascinating to observe. --Dale W. Eisinger, Altered Zones

MP3: Nate Young: "Collapse"

Nate Young's Stay Asleep Regression Volume Two drops November 15 from NNA Tapes