Bonding in 2005 over their mutual upbringing of Skinny Puppy, sinister hip-hop and Warp Records fare, Jason Stevens and Dave Madden spent the mid-2000s recording and producing music as Lapsed & nonnon. Amidst playing a host of local shows and festivals in the electronic desert of Salt Lake City, they merged like Voltron to produce their 2007 album The Death of Convenience (released on Ad Noiseam, ADN 87). DOC explores the marriage of microwave beats with MC’s amid a cut-up dystopian electronic collage, and has been referred to as “Wu-Tang for Stockhausen fans” and “A very rich well thought & thought-provoking album bearing fruits of many influences & sleepless nights of careful composition.” Tours of the US, Canada and the EU followed with the duo sharing bills with disparate music makers such as Jamie Lidell, Roxy Music’s Andy Mackay, Larvae, Mentallo & the Fixer, KiEv, and Keith Fullerton Whitman.
After a decade apart, Stevens and Madden reunited in 2019 to record several hours of material that highlight their individual journeys with analog and digital synthesis during the lastten years. This output was manipulated and reassembled in December 2020 with the vague themes of Solstice, hibernation, the kitchen sink perspective of Throbbing Gristle, the morphing juggernaut of Bitches Brew, screams from Pharmakon, the dark atmosphere of Lustmord, and the dynamics of Drew McDowell. With this Grave of the Opal Golem was born.
Having covered Coil’s "Her Friends the Wolves" for Crunch Pod, the duo now releases the album C.E.L.S. into the universe. Two immersive tracks invite the listener into a world masterfully constructed by two elders of the electronic music world. Not for impatient trend seekers, nor the streaming algorithm junkies, C.E.L.S rewards repeated listens and offers a rich sonic world to those who aspire to something beyond the immediate. Seek and ye shall be rewarded, after all, constant evil leads to shallowness
credits
released June 20, 2021
Crunch Pod Catalog: CRUNCH 209
All music written & produced by Jason M Stevens and Dave Madden
supported by 5 fans who also own “C.E.L.S. (CRUNCH 209)”
I cannot praise this album enough. This album is absolutely terrifying! The many starts and stops creates this very h settling tension. Each start expands on the stopper idea previously. It’s like the music equivalent of walking through thick fog while passing out multiple times throughout trying to find a place to orientate yourself. There may or may not be something sinister in that fog, but you don’t want to stick around to find out. Bought the vinyl so I summon the fog demons through spe showhornwithteeth