DUNCAN, JOHN & JOACHIM NORDWALL - Conventional Wisdom

Edition of 300. "Venerable avant-garde composer John Duncan follows his prized cycle of cover versions Bitter Earth (2016) with Conventional Wisdom; a truly beguiling new suite of original, stony avant-blooz songs produced in collaboration with iDEAL boss Joachim Nordwall, and marking another high point in both of their catalogues After coming out as a vocalist to memorably striking effect in 2016, Duncan compounds the effect with Conventional Wisdom, placing his original lyrics in stark arrangements ranging from shortwave radio-streaked dark ambient settings and Mika Vainio-esque isolationism, to deathly dubs driven by Nordwall's rugged rhythms in a style that heavily recalls Jay Glass Dubs' Epitaph LP (2019). An original and close associate of LAFMS co-founder Tom Recchion, and collaborator with everyone from Chris & Cosey to Asmus Tietchens, Merzbow, and Andrew McKenzie (The Hafler Trio), Duncan is well versed in the art of fucking with music. Doing so since the '70s, it's onl