Altered Zones

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Never thought I'd be jamming an indie pop 7" from Burning Star Core's C Spencer Yeh, but hey, there's nothing more inspiring than an artist with the guts to pull a 180-- and the chops to pull it off. On his new "In the Blink of an Eye" single on DeStijl, Spencer trades in the long drones and two-bowed violin doodles for jangly rhythm guitar, a funk bassline, synthetic chirps, and a voice that stiffens and lurches like a penguin in a Robert Longo painting. If this song dropped during the post-punk revivial of the early '00s, it might still be a staple on Lower East Side dancefloors. It's that snappy-- except for the fact that it seems perpetually on the verge of crumbling apart. --Emilie Friedlander, Altered Zones (via 20 Jazz Funk Greats)

MP3: C Spencer Yeh: "In the Blink of an Eye"

"In the Blink of an Eye" 7" is out now on DeStijl

C. Spencer Yeh of Burning Star Core says:
Thought it would be appropriate for this dark and lonely winter season: a catchy torch song with a haunting mantra. Really nails that ramshackle loner vibe: resigned desperation, midnight monastic rainclouds. Picked up from Aaron Dilloway’s record store in Oberlin, OH, in a section labeled the “Shock Pit.”

The liners describe Jackson as the “female studio vocalist” for a mystery dubbed the “Guild”. Her interpretations for an array of (Guild??) songwriters settles side A. Randy Cooper, her “Guild” counterpart, croons regional competence on the flip. Don’t take my word as encouraging further investigation; the remainder is passably disposable poprocks, songs in the key of “why?”.

“Debbie is an activity therapist,” the notes disclose, “working with emotionally impaired adults when she isn’t at the studio.”

MP3: Debra Jackson: "Caught In A Landslide of Love" (1984)

C. Spencer Yeh/Jon Wesseltoft Northern Resonance III/II LP is out now on 8mm, and a Paul Flaherty/Chris Corsano/C. Spencer Yeh Trio split 7" with Oren Ambarchi is out now on Krayon. Stay tuned for Spencer's 1975 CD on Intransitive, and his In the Blink of an Eye 7" on DeStijl (both under his own name).