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Neg Peg's Richard On 'Looming'

Posted by Barry, 9 months ago (6 September 2012)

'I can confirm that the 12" vinyl is a thing of genuine beauty. You may wish to buy two copies, one to play and one to put on your mum's wall'

Negative Pegasus release their new album, 'Looming', on 24th September through Smalltown America. The band - Richard Netley (Guitar/Vocals), Todd Jordan (Guitar/Vocals) and Carla Foss (Drums) - hail from Brighton, and are responsible for some of the most forward-thinking blends of psych and gritty rock you're ever likely to encounter. Before you flock to the record stores in your numbers to pick up a copy, DIY has an exclusive stream of the record two weeks ahead of its release. Richard from the band was kind enough to give us his very own - occasionally graphic - guide to the album, alongside the following introduction:

 
"Richard Netley from Neg Peg here, please join me on a descriptive journey through our debut album 'Looming'. Ok, Im having to download it... I will be commenting on the mp3 version of the album, because my record player is broken. However, I can confirm that the 12" vinyl is a thing of genuine beauty. It is delightfully yellow in colour and will be available to buy on September 24th 2012 from Smalltown America. You may wish to buy two copies, one to play and one to put on your mum's wall.
The record was recorded live with producer Steffan Eliades, and was completed very quickly, over just two days. As such there aren't that many hilarious stories about its creation. We drank a large quantity of alcohol, and ate artisanal beef jerky. While we listen, see if you can identify the special moments that these two influences inspired."
 
1. How It Happens
So the first thing you should know about Negative Pegasus is that we have two vocalists. I do some of it, and Todd Jordan does the rest. This is one of his.
We wanted a song with an electronic beat but we don't have a drum machine so Todd uses his pedals to create the effect of drums at the beginning. All of the melodic sounds on the record are made using either our voices or an effects pedal. In fact, there is no 'clean' guitar or vocals or the record whatsoever.
We have opened a lot of shows with this song.
 
2. Ottoman Silver
Ok I'm up. This is me you hear singing on this jam, which is loosely about the Ottoman Empire. We like to drop this into the middle of the set as a nice little 'breather' in between the heavy stuff. That being said, its still pretty gnarly! Carla's drums are so primal on this song, and its during this piece that I most often find my mind transported to somewhere else.
 
3. Floating Omen
This song is my favourite and I believe is the newest track on the record. This song is a very elastic composition, and as such is a joy to play at shows. You may hear a version anywhere between 4-10 minutes depending on the mood in the room. It is about the time I was on a train and saw a giant ominous building, looming at the edge of town. Everytime I look for it now, it is gone, presumably roaming the land in search of fresh meat. Let yourself be carried away by the looping closing sections, just like the unfortunate victims of that terrifying building.
 
4. A Single Fuck
This is an album-only instrumental jam. The producer of the record brought a number of fine electronic devices to the sessions, including his homemade version of Throbbing Gristle's "Gristleizer". This may be one of what I like to call 'Woodford Reserve jams' on the record, and as you can hear, includes much of Todd's beloved auto-wah pedal. The first time I told him that I liked the sound that this pedal made, both arms shot up in the air, ready to receive a double high-five. PRO TIP: Do not compose music whilst drinking Woodford Reserve if you do not want it to sound exactly like this.
 
5. The Black Thigh
Ok, side 2. See if you can guess where this song title came from.
Carla Foss is relatively new to the drums, and its safe to say that on this track she was pushing personal boundaries of leg-dismemberment. This song is about feeling so much love for another person that you want to physically destroy them until pieces of them are covering you like a second skin. It is kind of a creepy sentiment.
 
6. Psychic Energy
Another one of Todd's vocal performances, one that I really enjoy. This is a relatively early Neg Peg song, from when we were still building our sound, I think we knew what we had when it was finished. This song definitely has a kicking bassline, but note that there is no bass guitar on the album.
 
7. Soaker
The album's second instrumental. It felt fitting to put this here, to give you, the listener, a rest before the closing track. There is tons of gristleizer on this song. I love it.
 
8. Visitation
This track is about being too hot to fuck. Its a barebones workout and I like its thematic purity.
This is a frequent set closer, which is lucky as it has a tendency to result in a number of broken strings and higher than normal sweat-creation effect. Carla's drums are at their most primal on this song and I love how she never seems to run out of levels to cycle through.
It just gets bigger and bigger until you end up in a disgusting sweaty mess - do you see where I'm going with this?
 

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