EP review: Odd Nosdam // T r i s h EP (Sonic Cathedral)
Posted: Thursday 21 January 2016 by Sub Speed Media ... Labels: Odd Nosdam
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Rating: 7/10
by: Jonathan Greer
This is a beautiful curio of an EP. Odd Nosdam was formerly responsible for beats behind cLOUDDEAD, but here he has crafted a dreamy, beat-free tribute to the talent who was Trish Keenan from Broadcast. Originally released as a cassette at the end of 2013, and now reissued as a lovely (but very limited) 12" by Sonic Cathedral last Friday, 15th January, the fifth anniversary of her death.
If you only know Odd Nosdam (or David P Madson to give him his real name) from his wonky, imaginative and often abstract beats with cLOUDEAD, the music here may surprise you. At times it is close to 'Endless Summer'-era Fennesz, or some of the more ambient passages of My Bloody Valentine. It is sample-based and is at times hauntingly beautiful. Guitar parts shimmer and sometimes distort, and the whole thing often just hangs in the air, like a strangely enticing fog.
There are six tracks and the whole thing clocks in at just under half an hour, As far as I can tell there are no direct samples from Broadcast's work, though the presence of Grouper's Liz Harris on the title track is eerily similar to Trish herself.
As I said at the beginning, this is a beautiful tribute, but it is more than just homage or nostalgia, and perhaps it prompts us to think about directions that Trish and Broadcast may have taken had they been allowed to develop even further.