Sonic liberation can come in different forms. There are the sounds, of course, but there’s also the ideas that, sometimes, are so strong that they override the sound. Under the Tibshelf moniker, this is where Lee Etherington unearths his most interesting, thought-provoking concepts.
While blurring the lines with just about everything he touches, the Newcastle producer has toiled away in the largely uninhabited corners of the U.K. underground, wrenching square pegs into round holes, resulting in radiant sound collages that are his and his only.
Each Tibshelf release is different because there are no limits or parameters in which Etherington works. It’s always bravely original and untethered, and following last year’s Have Your Fun, The Effete Descendants Of Robber Barons Are Poison To Civilisation continues to see Etherington crystalise a radicalism in art that only a few others in this space share. The likes of Lilacs & Champagne and Actress, a select few that share an approach that essentially dismantles the genre in favour of duality. The freedom of coexistence that is opened-sourced and has no currency.
On The Effete Descendants Of Robber Barons Are Poison To Civilisation, Etherington conveys this as best as he ever has. Opening gambit, You Better, an endless flow of soul and hip-hop collages best consumed in the ether. So too Injury Detail, as Etherington creates the kind of droning atmospheres that wouldn’t look out of place on Kompakt.
Champs takes its queues from You Better, but instead of high altitudes, this is more for the street level. And it’s where Etheringon remains on Missed You – a collision dancehall and footwork. Where the former is concerned, Deals and Parking Structure both continue to fly the flag in the dub-inflected chill zone. But with a new potent grade of green, again, Etherington guides us into new space.
The contrasts and hairpin turns continue on McBride. With adapted words from Eimear McBride’s novel, A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing, Etherington cuts and pastes snippets of jazz and noise-rock. So too on Remains, although he pivots with something more neo-classical. And with more voice samples on the latter, it sees Etherington mixing the absurdities with the poetic.
Closing number, I Do Like A, just about seals the deal. It’s krautrock for wide screens. Which is exactly where The Effete Descendants Of Robber Barons Are Poison To Civilisation belongs. Tibshelf’s latest, sparkling snapshots of musical history. Unfazed by pigeonholes or any styles or scenes, it’s a sound world where everyone gets along. Does that make it escapist? Probably, but if it were transferred to some form of reality, the idea of that holds great weight. A beautiful possibility, and just thinking about it is transcendental. This is what Etherington’s Tibshelf is all about.
The Effete Descendants Of Robber Barons Are Poison To Civilisation is out now via Cruel Nature Records. Purchase from Bandcamp.
