Failing Lights - Failing Lights

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5...according to our Ant on Thu 12 Aug, 2010.

As far as I'm aware this is the first "proper" release from Mike Connelly's solo project, with previous releases being a bunch of cassettes, CDr's, lathe cuts etc. This man keeps himself busy with a ton of aliases from Mongoloid men to Semen flashback but is probably best known for the glorious racket he creates with both Wolf Eyes and Hair Police. This is inspired by the vast empty space, long roads and lonely wilderness of the mid-west landscape and is every bit as weird and detached sounding as I'd hoped. Strange brooding fizzing sounds and sinister electronics create visions of abandoned farmhouses. I also get the feel of tuning a radio dial in desperate hope of finding some other living beings on the other end. None of the sounds on here are really identifiable at all which makes for an all round freaky listen. Its pretty spacious and well considered and ultimately bleak and nightmarish. Recommended.

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AN EVOCATIVE WORK OF BLEAK ELECTRONIC
ATMOSPHERE AND SUFFOCATING DREAD,
F AILING L IGHTS IS THE INTENSELY
PERSONAL VISION OF MICHIGAN (VIA
LEXINGTON, KY) ARTIST MIKE CONNELLY.
WHILE HE HAS TOURED THE WORLD AS 1/3 OF
LEGENDARY INDUSTRIAL/NOISE UNITS H AIR
P OLICE AND W OLF E YES , CONNELLY
SPENDS HIS DAYS CRAFTING A MUCH
DIFFERENT SOUND ON HIS OWN. UNDER THE
F AILING L IGHTS FLAG, HE HAS SELF-
PUBLISHED A NEARLY UNCOUNTABLE NUMBER
OF CASSETTES AND CDRS OF ROUGH DRONES,
DETUNED IMPROVISED GRIT AND UNSTABLE
ACOUSTICS IN TINY EDITIONS THAT QUICKLY
VANISH INTO COLLECTOR-LAND. INTRANSITIVE
IS PROUD TO PRESENT THE DEFINING – AND
FIRST WIDELY AVAILABLE – F AILING L IGHTS
STATEMENT, AN ALBUM OF SINEWY HORROR
WITH A FINE-TUNED BEAUTY WITHIN ITS
DARKNESS.

PIECE IN FIVE SECTIONS, FAILING
BEGINS WITH DISQUIETINGLY
BARREN NEGATIVE SPACE. AS THE ALBUM
CREEPS FORWARD, IT STEADILY DISPENSES
SHEETS OF DIFFUSE THROAT-SCRATCH AND
SKITTERING STRINGS, CULMINATING IN A
BLAST OF MOLTEN ORGAN.
NOT NOISE, AMBIENT, IMPROV, BLACK METAL, OR
ANYTHING ELSE: THIS IS FAILING LIGHTS .

“Mike Connelly's Failing Lights CD is a
deep trip into darkness, density and
dimension. This work is not random noise.
Connelly is able to bend sound and
texture at will, with a great deal of control.
He sculpts huge amounts of space and
intensity with a great deal of grip. Really good!” - Henry Rollins

"With the first full-length CD of Failing
Lights, Mike Connelly melds his diverse
and obscure personal musical interests
into one inspirational album. Patience.
Minimalism. Refinement. Restraint. Filthy
dirty home recording, executed with the
cutting skill of a sound-art composer and
the heart of folk music. An amazing album, by far his best!" – Dominick Fernow, Prurient

“Never before has the solo force of Mike
Connelly been so clearly on display.
Failing Lights is a dark necessity, an
important document from one of music's important figures.” – Steve Lowenthal, Swingset Magazine