Bleep

Following 2015’s Noise Tape Self, Portland artist Paul Dickow releases his second Strategy album on Seattle’s Further Records. Restricting himself to a reel-to-reel recorder, he created Information Pollution sampling forgotten radio frequencies – ghostly shortwave sounds, ambulance, parking and school bus dispatch channels, drawing attention to the large amount of spam and unwanted information we’re exposed to in our everyday lives, a concept also reflected in the title. Although his recording technique isn’t too different from his previous releases – Noise Tape Self was created with cassette tape loops — Information Pollution sounds noisier than its predecessor, tapping into the trajectory of Portland’s late 1990s experimental scene. Both the cover showing some form of broken signal and the scraps of conversation leaking through the noise and drones indicate extraterrestrial activity – through the use of effect boxes, Dickow further alienates his sound sources, emphasising their failed attempts at communication.