Nexsound – experimental, ambient, noise, improv record label

Review

Cracked

Ballroom of Mars – cédre

Two strategies define the work of Ballrooms of Mars on this release: hiding structure behind walls of seemingly disorganized noise and hiding the noise and chaos behind a resemblence of structure. The effect is the enforced and welcome disjunction of moments of pristine beauty and chaotic dissonance that keeps the listener in upright tension for the whole of the tracks, ever expecting a harsh attack of ripping noise while trying to relax to gentle appregios on an acoustic guitar or finding the inner pulse in a chaotic collage of random noises of either and or electronic instruments of manipulation or electronically or manually manipulated instruments but waiting for moments of relaxation. The dynamics are challenging and exhausting. A minute of harsh digital noise pulsed might be followed by a slew of ragtime chords on the piano straight from the Jacksonville Twenties. A young women