IF, BWANA-WAH YU WAN, LP, 1990, USA

Al Margolis (who is If, Bwana) was one of the cornerstone fixtures of the 80's cassette culture network, running the uber prolific Sound Of Pig imprint. Wah Yu Wan, his first release on vinyl, is a bit of a schizophrenic grab bag of avant garde and post-industrial signifiers, but there's nevertheless plenty here grab your attention. Austere academic sounding electronics screech and shimmer to variable effect at the outset, but quickly enough you're plunged down the title track's rabbit hole of reverbed metal clatter where clarinets chase the tail of harmonium drones, while Op. 4, Ch. 4 (the album highlight) is a dense psychotropic vortex of of low-pitched drones, string skree, sepulchral orchestration and Sally Smmit-like acid warble vocalizations. The rest? It has it's moments, including some very pleasant foghorned doomscapes built from multi-tracked clarinets, but the two above cited cuts (approximately half the album) are the real rib-stickers here.

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