Photo by Elena Solotroff
Echoes And Dust is currently streaming Records Of Human Behavior, the debut full-length from experimental drone/dark ambient/noise duo, THE MERCURY IMPULSE. The premiere comes in advance of the record’s official unveiling this Friday, August 23rd.
THE MERCURY IMPULSE was created in 2024 by JR Robinson and Mark Solotroff. Robinson is well known for his group Wrekmeister Harmonies and Solotroff is best known as the frontman of Anatomy Of Habit and BLOODYMINDED.
Comments Robinson on the release, “This recording sounds very modern to me. I mean that in the actual sense that this could be the soundtrack of how we conduct our daily lives; the constant barrage of information and misinformation, the expectation to rapidly respond despite the nagging indications that we don’t even know what we’re reacting to anymore. It sounds to me what it feels like to be cognitively aware of the tidal wave of communications constantly impinging upon us through (for now) ubiquitously attached external devices and what that is doing to us. Physically. Emotionally. On a more basic level this sounds modern in a way that we can all identify with. The familiar elements are all present; synthesizer, guitar, even rhythms and voice, but it’s composed and arranged in a manner that truly reflects the present, the inescapable moment that may be unfamiliar by its true name: forever.”
Reflects Solotroff, “When I think about the present and… forever… I also end up back in the past and I think about how our music is shaped by people who came before us, then where it sits in contemporary music and art, and if there will even be a forever to drift into. Will the weight of information cause some sort of collapse? Maybe it won’t be physical or electrical, but existential. It may be a collapse of meaning, purpose, and connection. When we navigate the vast sea of information, we need anchors. I maintain hope that music, art, and shared experiences with dear friends will keep us afloat.”
Writes Echoes And Dust in part, “Records Of Human Behavior is a record that is full of atmospheric menace and hypnotic noise that will captivate and terrify in equal measure, taking in all manner of sonic plateaus throughout its duration.”
Stream THE MERCURY IMPULSE’s Records Of Human Behavior, exclusively at Echoes And Dust, at THIS LOCATION.
Records Of Human Behavior is the result of approximately three months of active collaboration between friends. While the intensity of early Throbbing Gristle and the vast space of Lustmord are touchstones the album has a rawness expected from Solotroff’s contemporary analog synth drone/ambient releases combined with the expansive sonic landscapes that Robinson’s albums are known for.
Records Of Human Behavior was recorded at Giants Ledge in Rosendale, New York and The Confluence in Chicago, Illinois, and mastered by Collin Jordan at The Boiler Room in Chicago.
The record will be released on CD and across all digital platforms. Find preorders at THE MERCURY IMPULSE Bandcamp page HERE.
Robinson and Solotroff were first introduced to each other in late 2011, during the formation of a group of musicians that would perform with Robinson in January 2012, under his Wrekmeister Harmonies name, at the Museum Of Contemporary Art in Chicago. This ensemble, drawn from the city’s metal, experimental, classical, and improvised music scenes, came together to play a live score to Robinson’s film, You’ve Always Meant So Much To Me.
Solotroff and Robinson continued their collaboration over the following years, performing as a duo and in large ensembles, including multiple legendary shows at Bohemian National Cemetery, as part of the Beyond The Gates series, which Robinson spearheaded.
This in-person creative relationship paused in late 2015 when Chicago was no longer the home base for Wrekmeister Harmonies. Over the years, the two had developed a strong friendship while working together, and although music was shared at points in time after Robinson left Chicago, it wasn’t until early 2024 that the idea of a new approach materialized, based on recordings that Solotroff had sent Robinson for a proposed Wrekmeister Harmonies album.
Sparked by Robinson’s initial work with a set of existing unreleased recordings, the two set about recording new material, heavily driven by analog synth and guitar noise, and marked by a conscious decision to work rapidly and not risk damaging the creative freedom that they were enjoying in the process.
https://themercuryimpulse.bandcamp.com
https://wrekmeisterharmonies.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/wrekmeisterharmonies
https://www.facebook.com/wrekmeisterharmonies23
https://marksolotroff.com
https://marksolotroff.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/marksolotroff
https://www.facebook.com/solotroff