Act & React: Mamiffer
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Mamiffer is pianist Faith Coloccia and friends. Their Hirror Enniffer was one of Hydra Head’s more intriguing releases last year (reviewed here). Coloccia’s collaborators included three-fourths of These Arms Are Snakes, Hozoji Matheson-Margullis from Helms Alee, and Aaron Turner of Isis. We had Coloccia listen to six tracks identified only by title. Each title had the word “faith” in it. Coloccia’s reactions follow below. Turner was in the room at the time, and Coloccia also captured his reactions to her reactions.
FC = Faith Coloccia
AT = Aaron Turner
Photo by Morgan Cuppet
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| Jesu – “Blind and Faithless” From: Why Are We Not Perfect (Hydra Head, 2008) What: Labelmate; not immune to criticism |
FC: I can’t stand it! The decayed sound is OK, but the feeling of Pro Tools is so close I want to run away and not even give the song a chance. (Justin [Broadrick] probably recorded it to tape, and I’m just projecting some kind of Pro Tools complex onto this track. Maybe it’s the feeling of major chords and upbeat sounds that makes me want to quit out of iTunes?) Reminds me of the bad relationship I had during the time I had a My Bloody Valentine CD. If the violin-ish sound was the only part of the track then I could listen to the song. I like some Jesu songs. This is Jesu, right? The title sounds like a Godflesh title.
AT: In response to you saying that the Jesu track sounds like My Bloody Valentine, I think that’s a slightly unfair assessment of the track, although it does sound like music from that era.
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| Y Kant Tori Read – “Fayth” From: Y Kant Tori Read (Atlantic, 1988) What: Pre-fame Tori Amos’ synthpop band with future GN’R drummer Matt Sorum |
FC: I know that voice. It’s Tori Amos. This is fucking horrible! I know that voice from a mixtape cassette my cousin gave me in high school. It had “Little Earthquakes” on it. I used to try to play piano songs by ear, and I tried to play one of her songs, “Winter.” All I ended up doing was transposing her vocals into piano notes. Her voice is so dominant over the instrument.
I remember a show on MTV that outed past pop musicians who were all of a sudden in the “alternative” scene. Amos was one of them. They showed a video of her in a black leather skirt with her hair all crazy and her band was called Tori Cant Write (or Read?). I think this song is a sad result of someone’s listening to a crappy manager.
AT: Tori Amos, really? It sounds like Madonna or Cyndi Lauper.
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| Arkhon Infaustus – “Behind the Husk of Faith” From: Orthodoxyn (Osmose, 2007) What: French black/death metal; Jesus not welcome |
FC: This goes a little past my ears. [It] sounds like the shows that were dangerous to go to in high school, where there would be a meaty human circle of sweaty guys with their shirts off releasing anger. I like the double kick pedal and some of the guitar tones. It would feel good to play some of the chord changes on whatever stage they have that’s covered in sacrificed Christian blood.
AT: I don’t think you had a response or at least it was not memorable.
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| Wrath of the Weak – “A Leap of Faith Ends When You Crash into the Ground” From: Alogon (Profound Lore, 2008) What: One-man Burzumic black metal; reviewed here |
FC: I think I have heard this before. The beginning is nice before the instruments come in. I like the hard-to-hear note changes, the layer of static on the whole song, and the lack of constant vocals, but the constant adhering to a beat is a little off-putting. It’s good. I could listen to this and not feel really upset or annoyed.
AT: I think I have that record, and it’s not bad, actually.
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| Black Math Horseman – “Bird of All Faiths and None / Bell from Madrone” From: Wyllt (Tee Pee, 2009) What: Haunted heaviness; the vocal performance of the year |
FC: Sounds like my friend Sera’s band. (Black Moth? Horsemen? I’m really terrible with remembering band names!) Kind of sounds like Red Sparowes. Her voice is really good to hear. It was recorded in a nice way [and] sounds honest. I think it would be awesome if she did songs with only her voice, or experiment[ed] with her voice layered. I would love to be brave enough to sing.
AT: It was surprising for me to hear you identify Black Math Horseman after hearing the MP3 for about five seconds, and having only seen Sera’s band once.
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| Ballerina – “Faith” From: Dance of Balet (IPS/PRS, 2006) What: Indonesian prog metal |
FC: I don’t know what this is, but it reminds me of Living Colour, especially the vocals at the end. Sounds like an accent of someone who listens to Corey Glover or Mike Patton sing and so tries to sing like them, but their country’s accent does not lend them the same syllables and sounds that the American accent could. I don’t really want to listen to this. I do, however, really like the white noise of the heater in my place, and silence, so I will listen to [that] instead.
AT: Thought it might be Living Colour, but don’t know. [It] sounds like Euro power metal with a funky twist. Funky is the perfect word for the horrible shit they were perpetrating.
