Along with the late Alan Vega, Martin Rev first made his name nearly in the late ’70s with Suicide, the black-as-death proto-punk project that influenced everyone from Dirty Beaches to Bruce Springsteen (who covered the duo’s canonical “Dream Baby Dream”). Vega’s sweet croon was matched by the menace of Rev’s electronic programming, ugly patches of noise that could curdle and become perversely sweet, and vice versa. Without Suicide, you would’ve spent last night refreshing re-runs of The Young Pope instead of returning to the Pacific Northwest.
But Rev’s work spans well beyond the world of Suicide. On Friday, Atlas Réalisations will release Demolition 9, Rev’s (you guessed it) ninth solo record, and the first he’s released since 2010’s keyboard piece Stigmata. Somewhat fittingly, Demolition is a deconstructed opus of thirty-four fragments that show Rev flexing between neo-classical flourish and grated-skin dissonance.
Today, we’re thrilled to premiere “Vision of Mari,” which sits at the end of the album’s first third. It’s a brief conversation between several tones—padded and faded strings, purring woodwinds, and soft synths quickly run up and down the track Rev sets for them one right after the other. It sounds a bit like a single moment in a Oneohtrix Point Never song dismantled and put on display, though it’s also as playful as anything by Terry Riley. And just like that, it’s gone.
Demolition 9 is out May 26 on Atlas Réalisations.
