Sharkiface - "Climax In A Process"

[no part of it]

 

It's hard to believe that this is the first full-length release by Sharkiface, the solo project of Angela Edwards, whose trail of achievements and accolades began in the 90s, in Austin, Texas. Starting with her experience booking and doing tour management for Daniel Johnston, she then moved to the Bay Area and quickly became an important staple, collaborating with local exploding psychedelic stalwarts Hans Grüsel's Krankenkabinet, Tarantism, and (rumor has it), Caroliner Rainbow, among many others.

Sharkiface has toured the United States steadily, with some stints in Europe and Japan, and has been featured at fests such as San Francisco Electronic Music Fest, No Fun Fest, Colour Out of Space, and Ende Tymes, to name a few. Despite having done splits or collaborations with familiar names like Rodger Stella, Leslie Keffer, or Fletcher Pratt, and running a venue called Life-Changing Ministries, this is still her first truly solo outing as a recording artist.

For "Climax In A Process", Sharkiface brings out career-spanning material, but also newer tracks, freshly inspired by her experience achieving an MFA in Electronic Music at Mills College, where she studied under "expert noodle wranglers" such as: Zena Parkins, Laetitia Sonami, John Bischoff, Chris Brown, Tomeka Reid, James Fei and Kala Ramnaf.

Although Edwards' actual process remains somewhat mysterious, it is readily evident that voice is a main impetus for her work, which is, at times, processed through various extremely rare electronic instruments, tape delays, samplers, and other custom devices.

It is because of her lengthy experience using voice with this set up that she has been called a "static witch", and on "Climax In A Process" she says she explores not only the metaphorical values of a full moon, but also the loss of loved ones. In one case, for example, she can be found using the numerical value of a birthdate to create arrangements, altogether developing a narrative either sonically, symbolically, or spiritually, the themes of "memories, shadow work, incantations, processing trauma and redemption".