In the wake of what was perhaps Tim Presley’s most accessible record in For the Recently Found Innocent, it appears that the mastermind behind White Fence has decided to dedicate 2015 to producing his weirdest music yet. On August 21, an LP from his abstract, guitar-based collaborative project with Cate Le Bon DRINKS is out (and will challenge listeners to question whether or not they do, indeed, like that dog), and coming soon after he will release his debut album as W-X.
Seemingly different enough from the White Fence aesthetic to warrant a whole new moniker, Presley’s latest will be released on John Dwyer’s safe-haven outlet for the weird, rugged, wild, and (generally) awesome, Castle Face Records. The first track from W-X is “Clean It Glen”—a manic pastiche of textures and ideas pasted together with analog hiss and tape manipulation. Headphones are recommended. Pop expectations are not.
The announcement came along with a poem from Dwyer himself, who notes within it that “[he thinks] of this record as kind of a ‘Tim Presley reads his book on tape.’” Full poem, album art, and track listing are below.
I look across the table at the man
cuban coffee in hand, cigarette stuck to lip
glasses nearly opaque grey blue
you can see his sleepy eyes but only just barely
and i think “this man has been up all night in the song-lab writing while the masses sleep”
Like Poe, eyes screwed up from working by candle light
Nicely high but not for pleasure…for the boundless job
Not that these songs are to be listened to strictly at night while lit up, but it seems they lean that
way
Blown and bent like trees on a white noise swept plain
Surreal like a wet city street after hours
Winding like a nocturnal drive through the backstreets
End upon beginning like a borderless landmass
Each song or structure tail bleeding onto the fingertips of the next
Barely holding onto the fur of cohesion
I think of this record as kind of a “Tim Presley reads his book on tape”
The story of life in Los Angeles flowing like the low moisture river that it is
The start is uphill, long and slow, and you ponder when you will be spat out onto the straight away
By the time “Clean It Glen” kicks in, your hands are sweating
and then you are there and it is glassy and wonderfully repetitive, repetitive, repetitive
Lights are flashing
Cars are passing
There is synthesized wild life here
Blips that are winged
Crackles that are slithering through the digital grass
Echo ripples across a chrome topped body of water
You catch a glimpse of yourself in a store-that-sells-something window
Beats are the staccato lines on the road being eaten by the undercarriage of the vehicle that whips
Through this world
Guitars are trash and debris
Acid
A headphone record at its primal best
Far out and geographically odd
Every time i play this someone asks, “what the hell is this?”
I say W-X
Dig in
Best to listen to it in its entirety
A vast 20 course experience served on twin platters
A carnival
A far cry from White Fence and yet still the scent lingers on the fingers
He told me I would hate this repeatedly and I replied that it is my favorite masterpiece of his (of which there are many)
This record looks through to the matrix of Tim’s songsmith genius, don’t forget to blink
For fans of early Soft Machine, The Fall, The Tronics , general clutter, disarray and Faust
W-X track list
1. Intro
2. The Lurk
3. Steer Clear
4. Running From The Dogs
5. Copping In The Afternoon
6. If Someone Hears That
7. Restless Leg
8. Extortion
9. Dancing Lips
10. Brazilian Worm Band
11. Moment
12. Two Peaceful Death Birds
13. Clean It Glen
14. Desert Temple Players
15. Trap Deal Part 1
16. Trap Part 2
17. Trap Part 3
18. Sacri-Face
19. The Saddest Lyrics I Have Ever Written
20. Hermit Stomp (Simple Times)
W-X is out November 7 via Castle Face.
(via Stereogum)
