Deign is a project from Jim Harras, and besides one release out in 2010, this is his only other foray with the moniker. Pecuniary Huckster is three tracks of absolutely destructive noise, and it’s doesn’t fall into the dilemmas of harsh noise or power electronics by reusing old ideas. Instead, it takes both of those genres and combines them into something loose and gritty, and it’s overall an excellent and original tape.
The first side houses “Snipers Gaining Media Attention By Picking Off Protestors At OWS” and “The Wealth Remains”. The first track is a slow burn of sounds; deranged electronic noodling and swirls of warped feedback drone along slowly until the track’s final moments, where everything comes together into a screeching cacophony of sound. It melds right into the intense “The Wealth Remains”, with heavy pulses of vocals and bass coming together into electronic cut-ups and jittery rumbles. A sheet of static, an industrial hum, sharp metallic scrapes, and a sprawling mix of textured sounds are the ways that Deign completely destroys the A-side.
“Consume to Cum” is entirely different because of its layered and looping drum beats – there’s a techno dance hall rhythm to it infused with an organic wall of static. The drums begin to loop so fast that everything breaks down into peals of electronic feedback, as if the very electronics themselves are exploding from overuse. What was a dark rave becomes a grindcore march full broken sounds and grating textures. At the end, even the drums drop out for crashing shudders and oscillations, a full assault towards your speakers that might leave them smoking.
It’s most likely unnecessary to add that Pecuniary Huckster is a great tape, right? It’s searing, original, and often completely abrasive. Though short and one of the only Deign releases, it leaves the listener clamoring for another tape of looped drum beats and feverish electronic burns.
MEMORY WAVE TRANSMISSION 