Here at Onyx, we love weird arse stuff, especially when it is really well put together, and so we present the Expedient Self and their new experimental noise album called At The MRI Scanner. Out on the attenuation circuit label in Germany, Expedient Self is based in the United Kingdom, and I bet you can’t guess what inspired this eight track journey, which is done completely on guitar.
You won’t have to remember pesky song titles, as they are neatly documented in Roman numerals, unless of course you missed that day at school and never quite got a hold of those weird Vs and I’s.
Not going to lie, it really is like being in an MRI scanner, with all those weird rhythms going off, that would actually be very enjoyable in a metronome kind of way, if you didn’t have to worry about moving. There are the intense bursts of magnetic pulses between the regular ticking. Occasionally the guitar increases in voracity, exposing you to the claustrophobic condition in the tube. Apart from the ticking, the other consistency from the beginning of each track, comes in the form of a female voice telling you to stay still for three minutes.
The whole album is a really interesting concept. For those that like experimental noise, especially noise that uses regular instruments, which then the musician wrings the most abnormal sounds, then this is most likely for you. It puts you in someone else’s shoes, or takes you back to a time and place where you were in this situation, just like Expedient Self. Is it strange that for myself it is both hypnotic and yet uncomfortable at the same time? All I can say dancing At The MRI Scanner could be a thing, however, as Self Expedient can attest, this will not be endorsed by medical staff
At The MRI Scanner | Expedient Self | attenuation circuit
Onyx Music Reviews 