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FITTING SOMEWHERE BETWEEN Jackie-O Motherfucker's great mantric Flags of the Sacred Harp and pure jacuzzi-hot drone, Valet's new record comes in puddles of liquid sound. The Yarnlazer-released Blood is Clean is all long building, spacious jams that span out over five or six (or sometimes eight) minutes and just sigh away. It's mellow taken a step further—just sun-warmed, yellow-gold shimmers. Valet is Honey Owens, who played in Jackie-O when Flags was cut, sang in Nudge, and has trafficked in hardcore free-noise with World and jammed Santanic with Dark Yoga. All were (and are) some of Portland's best of the last few years, and Blood is Clean adds to that legacy with streamers, balloons, and fireworks.
At 45 minutes, Blood is Clean is a roaming trip through sounds unrecognizable. Was that barely there gasp a muffled horn or a train whistle heard from miles away? Is that laptop percussion or Indian hand drums field recorded at a powwow? As we roll through the record's eight tracks, it's best to just give up trying to quantify and compartmentalize and let ourselves be taken down the river. It's all sunny, dreamscape action, minimalist compositions that hush off until there's nothing there but a pulse in the wrist. Others rear up with tribal vibe, and some are nothing more than a breath of vocals and rippling ambient pools.
Tonight Honey collaborates with Ghosting, a like-minded kid named Zachary Reno who is making some of the most uncompromisingly beautiful instrumental drone/noise grooves on Earth. Put together, I can only imagine the real, human, unpackaged, zero bullshit SOUND they're going create. Hope to see you there.
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