“drill eats nails and batteries. mallo, strings.” This is a fine introduction to an India-based duo whose simple turns EP simmers and smokes like an overheating machine. While it never quite erupts into whining gears and flying shards, the EP offers restrained ambience with an edge: a work desk cluttered with moorsings, kalimbas, gongs and didgideroos. When combined with processed samples, this ethnic potpourri produces an otherworldly atmosphere.
For a while, it seems as if nothing powerful will break through; the pulse of “folds” covers an array of buried instrumentation, echoing and looping in the background. But “lathe works” builds on this anticipation with developing drama. The piece is mixed low and contains a quiet consistency, offset by an increasingly insistent alarm tone at its center. By “analog triggers”, the recording level seems to have been raised, as a five-note melody again hides a number of effects, these being the EP’s most active, sweeping speaker-to-speaker like an ADD wind. As the piece continues, the central melody remains stable while the background grows louder and more agitated, leading to a (still quiet) culmination of waving white noise.
drill + mallo have laid the groundwork with this release, but still have some work to do. The fix-its are easy: allow the unique combination of instruments to have their individual moments, adjust the sound levels, and bring some of the more intriguing background sounds to the fore. These may be simple turns, but the duo’s audience is ready for a slightly greater complexity. (Richard Allen)
a closer listen 