Shit And Shine's '0 aa RIOT' Is a Hypnotic Masterpiece of Groove Minimalism
The Sonic Breakdown
Four tracks, two to a side: “Steve’s Pool” (10:29), “Planned Cancellations” (8:21), “1100 Parking Spaces” (9:01) and “Pyramid of Cylinders” (10:41). Thirty-eight and a half minutes, mastered by James Plotkin, and the eleventh Shit And Shine record Riot Season has issued since 2004. The label’s own pitch is the honest one: the rhythms are very Can-like, with a sharper modern edge and far less flowery decoration.
The Production & Mix
The Low-End: This is a bass record. Psychotropic Wonderland’s Tony D’Amico describes “Steve’s Pool” as “essentially ten glorious minutes of the same throbbing two-note bass line anchoring a continually shapeshifting beat” — and concedes it is “probably fair to describe it as an endearingly maniacal one-note performance.”
The Spatial Dynamics: The pleasure is in the dub engineering. JR Moores, reviewing it for The Quietus, notes the small events that break up the repetition: “They include glitches, tiny pauses and sporadic dubby flourishes.” D’Amico catches the best one on “1100 Parking Spaces,” where “the snare seems to flutter around spatially like a disoriented bat.”
Standout Performance
Clouse alone, credited as his own engineer, doing something closer to sculpture than songwriting. Moores on the opener: “The bassline and light beats on ‘Steve’s Pool’ recall the breakdown from a jazz record when the needle is skipping.” “Planned Cancellations” has “thicker echo” and opens with “a soundbite from somebody castigating the sad dudes who collect records” — on a record pressed in two limited colours of vinyl.
Why It’s Certified
⚡ Moores frames the listening correctly: “a second part of the pleasure is to listen out for the subtle and occasional changes in pattern.” Give it attention and it repays you.
🌈 D’Amico calls it “a leftfield masterpiece of hypnotic and muscular minimalism” and places it among his “instant Clouse classics” — the sound of “a great Can album with all of the vocals, guitars, and other melodic elements stripped away.”
🌈 Piccadilly Records put it plainest: “it’s never been quite as propulsive as this, nor has it even been as melodically pure and dynamically direct.” Eleven albums into the Riot Season run, Clouse has found a new gear.