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Belong "October Language"
Born in the dense heat of New Orleans, Louisiana, Belong
is a collaborative effort between Turk Dietrich and Michael Jones, whose
debut album, October Language, goes beyond traditional song structure
to a place where melodic figures blur, and textures are gorgeously sculpted
into an ocean of sound. Belong began on the WestBank of New Orleans in
2002, but it was not until 2004 that October Language was made. The album
was assembled, composed, and produced in Dietrich's bedroom studio; however,
the inspiration for the songs goes well beyond the walls. The album encapsulates
their hometown of New Orleans, at once bathed in sunlight and colors,
yet dripping in decay and a rich sadness. It is a record that attempts
to display the beauty in things that are worn, decayed or destroyed.
Following in the tradition of bands like My Bloody Valentine and Gas,
guitars, synths and other musical sources are wrenched from their typical
tones, revealing themselves in bright shards of distortion. Melodies are
similarly enveloped in a sort of aural atrophy, forever repeating their
blurring calls. At the end, all that remains is a noise so potent it leaves
the sonic equivalent of the sun's imprint on a retina.
Turk Dietrich has previously collaborated with Telefon Tel Aviv's Joshua
Eustis under the name Benelli, whose remix of Nine Inch Nails' "The
Frail (version)" is found on the acclaimed NIN EP Things Falling
Apart. Eustis played a small part in the production of October Language,
in addition to playing slide guitar on the album's title track.