GAJOOB Review by Bryan Baker:
That Chris Phinney has come out of hiatus is good news to my ears. When you get to be our age, 5 years seems like yesterday sort of, but also forever too. Frozen Lake is a painting in sound (or a sculpture as the artist tells it) and Mental Anguish dips its Moog Rogue (it rhymes) into delays, modulators, distortion pedals, samplers and things and spreads it around its sonic canvas. The picture is an abstract frozen lake that feels cold and foggy, full of potential demons. Movement is slow but you’re on edge with each passing microsecond. You may fall in at any moment. Frozen Lake’s drones are like chunks of ice colliding around you in the dark with the depths of its sounds coming to claim you.
Media: CD.
PRICE: name it
Visit Hal McGee / HalTapes / Electronic Cottage
Interview by Bryan Baker, 2016
Do you mind sending me a photo of your setup? I’d like to show it.
The setup’s broken down or would but use studio as shop & storage & had to get equipment work stuff out, all my stuff’s undone right now as well decks, everything as resetting up in time.
Did you have to get into a certain frame of mind to record this?
Yes & no just felt the need to do something as hadn’t in a long time see if could still pull it off the space rock sound sculpture thing.
Is this a first take?
Yes all tracks were first take & only one mixdown.
Tell me about the cover art.
Hal did the cover art I just supplied the info, if I release anything today will have to be by another label, I did supply art for another P/M you should get soon I assume.
What is it about the Moog?
The Moog is a wonderful analog beast that if one knows how to use they can create most anything,from pop,rock,space,noise etc, Plus it suits my tastes quite nicely, fat sound & in my opinion nothing better synth wise than analog gear.
I’m glad to hear something new. What’s inspiring Mental Anguish these days?
Life itself inspires me nothing else… well yeah, Hal also.
