I’ve finally just taken delivery of Salem‘s ‘Water’ 7″ on Merok, a tiny moment of tactile pleasure that prompted a post.
Salem (Michigan trio John, Heather and Jack) do a good job of keeping themselves buried. Their music thus far has been vinyl-only, no digital sales available. Interviews and facts are scant, photographs more so. The music itself actually feels buried; melodies trapped beneath multiple layers of dark, audio sediment.
If this were a hype-style machine, this lack of accessibility would be precisely their allure. However, the music (draped around a small inner sanctum of blogs for those without turntables) – obscured though it is – stands on its own. I’ve enjoyed reading the vast range of references that have been cited when discussing Salem: Bauhaus, The Knife, Cocteau Twins, Brian Eno, Nine Inch Nails, grime, 2-step. The list goes on. Certainly most of these are close – us Gen X-ers might also lob Coil or Throbbing Gristle onto the pile, just to see what sticks. What’s clear though is a fascination with the chopped & screwed aesthetic – and whilst The Knife may have liberally applied the screwed vocal to ‘Silent Shout’, Salem drag almost their entire instrumentation into the fray.
Certainly there’s no welcome mat here – Salem force you to act as something of a voyuer: to creep round to the back of the house, climb up the drainpipe to an upstairs window, and try to make sense of the groaning animal noises coming from the dark cupboard in the corner of the room. Rest assured, these boys and girls are not coming out to play.
‘Whenusleep’ is culled from the ‘Water EP’ available from Merok. The second track below, ‘Brustreet’, is something of a tribute to Springsteen’s ‘Streets of Philidelphia’ and, yes, the Boss never sounded so good.
Salem – Whenusleep | mp3 [via The Fader]
Salem – Brustreet | mp3
more: s4lem.com, myspace.com/jjhhmm
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