Bark Psychosis ‎– Hex

Seriously one of the best records I own! Aside from the fact that this is a top 10 fave album of all time for me, this pressing is fantastic! One of the cleanest I own. No surface noise, no cracks, nothing. Lastly, the remaster from graham is beautiful! Super dynamic just as graham likes :)

I'm probably not adding anything new to the ample discourse surrounding this band or post-rock in general, but I think I understand exactly why this album and some contemporaries caused such excitement. Bark Psychosis, like its most prominent associates Seefeel, Disco Inferno, and Main, made music with such a Phil Spector studio-as-instrument ethos that it was hard as fuck (if not impossible) to reproduce their material live. Such methods, which in Bark's case basically amounted to constructing songs by computer from constituent (acoustic instrument) parts, eliminated the brawny, macho tradition of gigging/touring. Depending on how you viewed rock's future, this could be either cool and badass or destructive and nonsensical; critic Joe Carducci championed the rock aesthetic in Rock and the Pop Narcotic (1991) (he's kind of the anti-Reynolds).

Basically, this is ground-zero for pop music criticics' sudden realization that the trajectory of rock music didn't reduce to "rock is dead" or implicate techno or hip hop as a destructive force. Going by Simon Reynolds' definition of post-rock (rock instrumentation used to produce timbre- or texture-based, often improvised, avant-garde music that integrates emerging music production something blah blah blah), ĭ̤͚͍̬̊͑̍̎̅̓͘ͅņ̱̳̺̦͙̳̺̜̖̃̓̔̅̉̈́̑͂͐͐ m̛̛̺̱̗̹͉̋̂̀͆͆͐̑͟͟y̫͔̹̔̍̅̎͗͌̈̊ͅͅ o̶͔͓̹̜̰̫͑́̽̇̉̇̂͡p̛̖̩̖̖͈͚̼̻̽͊̾̏͗i̵̜̘͔̤̠̐͌́̒̃̏̀͂͠͞n͖̞͕͎̺̖̞̝̘̠͊͛̅̽͛͒̇̊͡í̢͚͎̟̘̫̈́̒̏́͢ͅö̱͇̤̣̯͈͓̰͓̦͗͗̉̔̓͠͞n̸̮̣̬̜̂̋͋̊̅̾͘͢, this is really the pinnacle of it. It's amazing how it's possible to throw in horns and loud bursts of dirtorted guitar, side-by-side, with such facility as seen in "A Street Scene" and "Fingerspit". The structures are wild and, ĭ̤͚͍̬̊͑̍̎̅̓͘ͅņ̱̳̺̦͙̳̺̜̖̃̓̔̅̉̈́̑͂͐͐ m̛̛̺̱̗̹͉̋̂̀͆͆͐̑͟͟y̫͔̹̔̍̅̎͗͌̈̊ͅͅ o̶͔͓̹̜̰̫͑́̽̇̉̇̂͡p̛̖̩̖̖͈͚̼̻̽͊̾̏͗i̵̜̘͔̤̠̐͌́̒̃̏̀͂͠͞n͖̞͕͎̺̖̞̝̘̠͊͛̅̽͛͒̇̊͡í̢͚͎̟̘̫̈́̒̏́͢ͅö̱͇̤̣̯͈͓̰͓̦͗͗̉̔̓͠͞n̸̮̣̬̜̂̋͋̊̅̾͘͢, never better executed than in "The Loom", where somewhat traditional jazz-rock fades into a scratchy lo-fi loop, or in the stark loud-quiet and ambient passages of "Fingerspit" and "Eyes and Smiles".

Even if you disagree with its ostensible legacy of having shaken the independent music world a bit, there is still a lot to glean from this album and to learn from observing the place it had in its cultural context or the discussions it spawned.

one of those albums i've known about for years, actually from 1994 and for whatever reason only got round to a purchase. i detect the very occasional crackle but that's it. actually sounds good. nothing remarkable. a gatefold or sturdier sleeves would have been welcome however. feels a bit cheap to be honest.

My release has a skip on "A Street Scene" and cracks and pops throughout. I've kind of mentally resigned myself to the fact that there is never going to be a good pressing of this album.

This is among the best sounding records that I own. Dynamic, clear, and no clicks, pops, or surface noise to mention.

Despite the rep, Hex always sounded 'off' to me somehow on CD, long before I had a clue about or gave a shit about things like mastering. Too compressed, not natural. As such, I always thought it was overrated. As I really rate Dustsucker however, I thought I'd have another go at Hex for the 2x12" version. It sounds amazing, lovely depth and detail, I seemingly got lucky in getting a nice flat press with no clear defects or issues. Got a few crackles but seem to be of the kind that will work themselves out after a couple of plays through. Never going to be an all-time favourite for me, but a very fine album after all. If you're upgrading from a digital version, or new to it and what to hear what all the fuss is about, this version is recommended.

I've bought this reissue yesterday. This copy sounds awesome, great sound, no pops and cracks, very dynamic.
Huge sound quality.

No insert with band photo and credits in my copy. Also no sticker.

By this for Pendulum Man alone a brilliant dark moody soundscape full of restrained tension.....bliss will follow.