Main: Hz

Beggars Banquet 1996.  HERTZ 1 – 6

Discogs

Main were formed from the ashes of drone-rock outfit Loop by Robert Hampson and Scott Dowson.  They took the ideas Loop used far further than Loop did themselves, basing the music around drones devoid of rhythm.  Theyused manipulated sounds, usually so manipulated that it was impossible to tell where they came from.   This was a journey though, and their earlier work still contained elements of recognisable musical structures.

Hz appeared as a set of 6 EPs released monthly in 1996 and is for me their greatest achievement.  It’s guitar based and while drones are used extensively, it’s still “music”.  In places there are even bass riffs.  As a whole it’s intensely atmospheric with a powerful industrial feel.

This is the original 6 CD version, ripped as though it was one long CD.  There have been a few re-issues over the years as a double CD – I have no idea whether the sound was different on those.  There’s something to be said for splitting the 6 CDs up – they work well as stand-alone pieces.  That would be easy to do with MP3Tag if you felt inclined.

Hampson has reformed Main and has a new album about to be released which you can pre-order here. Obviously I haven’t heard it, but I have much of Hampson’s output and he’s rarely less than interesting. It will be good.