The Gag File vinyl

The Dais imprint has been responsible for some of the best industrial and noise music of the last decade. Through original releases and a whole heap of valuable reissues, such as Robert Turman's endlessly fascinating Way Down, the label has positioned themselves as experts, without the needless hype that often comes with these situations. They've recruited Aaron Dilloway here, an artist whom we find to be a source of infinite mystery and excitement; the man runs his own label and shop out of Oberlin, Ohio, and there are few people on the planet who have the same approach to making music - or non-music - as himself. This new album, fittingly named The Gag, strikes you even before the music commences; that creepy doll is the sort of abstraction to be expected from Dilloway, and this sort of aesthetic manages to trickle down into the music. Through endless distortions, messed-up tape loops and oddball field recordings, Dilloway creates his own world and he's the absolute master of it. Like a master puppeteer, the artist is able to strike vivid pictures into the deeper minds out there in the electronic music fandom. We're massive fans, as you can tell. 10/10.