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High Dependency Unit

Bio

The Dunedin-based trio of Tristan Dingemans (guitar/vocals), Neil Phillips (bass) and Dino Karlis (drums) join forces with long-standing sound recorder Dale Cotton and pick up the thread of their muse in five extended songs, drawing each into a taut epic of alternating light and dark.

Invoking all the sound and the fury imaginable in the post-rock idiom, High Dependency Unit offer up another slab of sonic splendour to rival their two previous epics, Abstinence: Acrimony (1995) and The Sum Of The Few (1996).

From the opening strains of the first track Babaya the adrenaline is rising until it's like drowning in an ocean of pure sound. Musical tension is coupled with a compelling sense of calm that allows you to just drift in the beauty of noise. The following track Fauxtekra unleashes the power of HDU live, drum and bass attempting to hold down a guitar hellbent on the deconstruction of all rock axioms.

The slabs of noise subside briefly with the third track, appropriately entitled Lull. The drums relax into a shuffle beat alongside a more introspective guitar line before HDU return to their heavy duty as the apocalyptic journey of Dune unfolds. Dense and foreboding, the track just relentlessly drives on before its oppressive grind breaks like a wave.

And so to the close where Space Is The Place winds out to uncover a reverbed soundscape of chilling beauty. In space, it may be that no-one can hear you scream, but with higher HDU make another passionate case for the quality of the dark emotions they express in music and sound. In ten years time, high dependency unit will be a name that resonates with the 'underground' prestige that groups such as The Gordons and Skeptics command today. Live, there's not a band around today that can touch them. This is the sound of the 'dark side' of Flying Nun in full sonic severity.

Band Members:
Tristan Dingemans (vocals, guitar)
Neil Philips (bass, guitar)
Dino Karlis (drums, percussion)
Dale Cotton (audio manipulation)

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  • Dunedin


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Shade
muzic.net.nz Admin

Joined: 17/07/02
Posts: 5067
Location: Manawatu
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High Dependency Unit - Metamathics
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 6:27 pm
Metamathics: (n) (short form of 'metamathematics')
The investigation of the properties of realities intrinsically unknowable by and from our own, but whose general principles can be hazarded at.
-- Iain M Banks, 'Excession'

In 2006 HDU took fans by surprise when they broke a recording silence of five years. Their first self-recorded and meticulously self-produced single from their own Furtherist label, TUNGUSKA - an epic, psychedelic soundtrack - stormed alternative radio and saw audiences packing out venues to capacity again to catch a glimpse of the band they’d assumed had called it a day. In 2007 they released another taster in the form of the limited edition split 7“ vinyl of STUPORMODEL (sold out), backed with another Dunedin punk 3-piece, Die!Die!Die!

The fourth album from HDU – METAMATHICS – makes both these tracks available together for the first time.

Four years in the making and entirely recorded and produced by drummer Dino Karlis and Bevan Smith (AKA Signer, AKA Aspen), the group recorded much of the album in different parts of the world. In 2006 they found themselves starting again nearly from scratch after a hard drive died taking all the album mixes with it. In the true HDU tradition of constant creative evolution, the final result is quite a different album created from mostly the same material. It also features an outstanding cast of guest musicians such as Tom Watson (Cassette), Julia Deans (Fur Patrol), Lee Prebble and Celia Church.

On METAMATHICS, HDU have once again built an uncommon aural landscape on a solid foundation of damaged guitar riffs and breathtaking dynamics. From the cover art by Wellington’s extraordinary Martin Thompson to the stark beauty of album closer WISH WE WERE HERE - where the breath of the players is still just audible – METAMATHIC‘s secret lies in affording each element the proper level of care and distinction to create a mesmerizing whole.

HDU are touring New Zealand, May 2008.
Keep an eye out for details:

www.myspace.com/highdependencyunit
www.hdu.co.nz
 

Shade
muzic.net.nz Admin

Joined: 17/07/02
Posts: 5067
Location: Manawatu
View Profile
HDU In Melbourne!
Posted: Sun Nov 3, 2002 1:35 pm
HDU and Cassette will be playing at the Empress in Melbourne on December 6 and 7, 2002.

Shade
muzic.net.nz
 

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