Ike Yard- Nord

[schwenko]

a new release! here is Other Music's review

"To be honest, I feared the worst when I heard that downtown NYC luminaries Ike Yard were releasing an album of new material after an almost 30 year hiatus. With the return of so many post-punk bands releasing watered-down rehashes of the sound that made the early '80s so potent, I worried a similar fate would befall one of my favorite groups of that era. What a relief it was when I finally heard Nord, an outstanding collection of new tracks that finds Stuart Argabright (of Dominatrix/ Death Comet Crew fame) and company continuing to masterfully deconstruct, reprocess, and strip down the sounds of the urban, industrial landscape in a way that is both new for the group and also so completely "Ike Yard."

Like many too young or distanced to have experienced Ike Yard first hand, I discovered them by ways of Acute Records' essential reissue of their recordings for the Crepuscule and Factory labels, 1980-82 Collected (also available on Other Music's download site). Certainly one of the most adventurous bands either label ever signed, Ike Yard drew influence from a variety of scenes -- no wave, Krautrock, post-punk, German and British industrial, and the nascent hip-hop sound gaining momentum at the beginning of the '80s in New York -- and stripped it all down to the barest of essentials. Their sound was fractured, skeletal, and unbelievably disquieting. Still, Ike Yard managed to retain a striking insistence, a sexiness even, due in large part to their focus on rhythm, the cavernous production of their recording, and Kenneth Compton's haunting vocal delivery.

Nord follows a very similar trajectory as the band's early material; however, whereas Ike Yard in the '80s was essentially an art rock band using electronics as a medium to express their dystopian vision, Ike Yard in 2011 is a full-on electronic outfit, with any acoustic instrumentation serving only as texture. The sound here is slightly more confident and definitely updated, as if Ike Yard has absorbed the last 20 years of (German and Detroit) electronic music and have been slowly trying to refract and reassemble it for themselves. Dark and propulsive, Nord is beat driven and rhythmic as in their earlier recordings, yet the sound is fuller; layers of electronic dissonance (resonant drones, distorted samples) hover over most of the record as strange synth lines are dropped in creating a fully realized sonic environment. I can't help but draw a comparison to more contemporary minimal techno here in its attention to texture and detail (fans of Basic Channel, early Kompakt, and Ostgut Ton will find a lot to appreciate on Nord); yet, Ike Yard are definitely doing their own thing, as on the abstract, baseless pseudo-dubstep "Citiesglit" or the constantly mutating, very excellent closing track "Robot Steppes." While the record may not be perfect -- it unexpectedly slows in the middle, and at times Compton's vocals are slightly too loud in the mix -- the excellent moments outweigh any of its missteps. One of the most engaging and exciting releases this year so far -- highest recommendation! [CPa] "