You might not know who or what KK Null is (or his band Zeni Geva), but rest assured his twenty plus years of activity in music has given him the opportunity to play all over the world and collaborate with a variety of musicians and bands from Sonic Youth, Mike Patton (Faith No More, MR. Bungle, Tomahawk, etc), Steve Albini (Shellac, Big Black, recording documenter extraordinaire) to Merzbow, and James Plotkin (Khanate, Phantomsmasher, Khlyst, etc). Oxygen Flash is another in a plethora of more than one hundred releases that KK Null has participated, recorded, and released over the course of his long and fruitful career.
OK, I certainly was not prepared for everything that Oxygen Flash would be bringing to the table that's for sure; the nine tracks on this KK Null album alternate from brutish, harsh white noise washes to strange blips, beeps, and electronic sounds. The first track actually reminded me of what eighties movies make computers sound like when they are working, which was strangely soothing at times while also being incredibly difficult to listen to at others. The whole of Oxygen Flash seems to alternate between the harsh sounds, the intriguing moments, and the sublime soundscapes with nary a warning as to when such a change will occur, almost like a good horror movie will keep one on the edge of their seat. There are actually quite a few tracks on this record which I find myself going back to over and over again such as track one, track six (a supremely hypnotic piece that definitely makes me zone out whenever I listen to it), track seven (another engrossing piece of blips and subtle sound waves), and the final piece (which seems to use horns amidst the strange electronic sounds).
Being a neophyte to the world of KK Null, my expectations were completely nonexistent; but my interest was high due to the list of people that he has worked with in the past. What Oxygen Flash offers is a group of, at times, fascinating soundscapes that are hypnotic and engrossing in their arrangements and variations in sound; the album is definitely one of the stranger releases that I have had the pleasure of hearing. While Oxygen Flash is not for everyone, the album is proof of KK Null's abilities as a sonic manipulator and avante garde composer; if you are an adventurous soul, buckle in for a truly strange trip.
