for DTRASH25 - "Exist"
Reviewed by Krist @ popcontrol.com

"Exist is the result of a collaboration of J. Schizoid (of Schizoid and Dead of Winter) and part .MIQ (of noCore, Zymotic, and .clipFit). While I haven't heard any of .MIQ's output before, I am familiar with Schizoid and there is a review already up on popcontrol. Exist self describe themselves as creating "glitchprone  industrial, noisebreak, cornycore to make you feel awkward and embarassed."

While I find their self description fairly accurate, I certainly don't feel embarassed to listen to it. This is some good stuff, a mixture of arythmic beats, twisted loops, and freaked out electronics. Gone is the high powered aggression of the Schizoid release, and in its place is relatively calm explorative  glitchcore. Add in a few carnival beats, and you've got yourself something to spend a nice cozy hour with.

A quick look at some of the diverse tracks: Parts of the first track, Acid Ice Cream, sound almost like what the Insane Clown Posse might have sounded like if they got into glitchcore instead of rap. I think this is a compliment... at least, I mean it as a compliment, since the track sounds pretty cool, sort of like a broken toy that is broken in a good way. God Zilla is a chill electronic track - various electronics over soft bass beats. Clicks and whirs that eventually get really kicking about two and a half minutes into the track. It's a good track - doesn't blow me away or anything but I definitely enjoy it (especially the second half). Disco Fek starts off sounding like a gabber track - you can almost hear the ravers screaming to get out. But it never makes it, instead corrupting itself into some very nice experimental stuff. It eventually ends up with extremely distorted vocals/samples over distorted low-key carnival gabber beats. It then moves into a  sort of cool little rythm that is pretty damn sweet.   The next track sort of sounds like it came off a v/vm album. Hooyee is a wierd distorted mess (in a good way), rampaging all over the place in slo-mo. Very nice.  AE is a wild track. I can't even describe it... it sort of sounds like a stampede of dancing robots. Not killer laser space robots, but big blocky fun dancing robots. Hmm... yea, well, I'm sure you know what i'm getting at.   Exist really start to hit thier stride with Jem, a great track that sort of pulls together all of the disparate elements found elsewhere on this album. It sort of sounds like a hyperactive butchering of an intro tune to a cartoon or something.   Kud Kud brings some funky beats into the mix, with some nice (probably sampled) turntable scratching filling out the track. Add some harsher beats to balance out the fun, and end up with yet another great track. It finishes up with a fairly long sample, that drops us into the...   ...wierd almost but not quite seventies-ish funk that quickly derails into the track's title, Noize. This somewhat grating electronic mayhem eventually returns to some nice beats covered in harsher beats and whirs. This track morphs into new incarnations quite a few times - all are interesting explorations with nice  rhytmic percussion that never grow dull. Of special note is the very nice use of sampled screaming at about the 11 minute mark... very nice, very cool, very well done. This track is by far my favorite on the disc - it's amazing how even and interesting it is despite the fact that it weighs in at over 20 minutes. Only note  is tht my cats bug out hard during the bit around 17 and a half minutes in. They don't know what the fuck is going on, but they want no part of it. Now, also of note is that after about 25 minutes into this track, my cd player goes haywire. It plays at almost double speed, with the timer on my cd player just kicking  ahead. Not sure if this is intentional or not.

Overall, I really liked this disc. I did like Schizoid's solo release a bit better overall, but I'm not entirely sure why. This isn't quite as harsh; it's definitely got its share of glitched out noisiness, but it doesn't have that hard edge that Schizoid did. Regardless, this disc is definitely recommended."

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