Body Image Corporation – s/t

5.28.20 by Tony Lien

Few experimental nomads of the sprawling tape scene have a higher (and more diverse) creative yield than German Army – which is really a sort of umbrella moniker (designed around the philosophy of obscurity) that encapsulates various other music projects (such as Concrete Colored Paint, Germ Class, Final Cop, Burnt Probe, or Body Image Corporation – the subject of this particular review). Peter Kris (a name, yes – but likely not the individual’s actual name) is the founding (and most prominent) member, and you can find a quality interview with him here if you want to gain a deeper understanding of the GA legacy. 

“Body Image Corporation” – available via Skrot Up – is a dark, sort of post-Vaporwave response to Internet culture – or specifically, via the Bandcamp description, “a limited edition cassette documenting the trash fire that is the Internet” (I like that better). Samples are strewn throughout the tracks, and many of them I am not able to readily identify. Due to their content (inspirational sport speeches, snippets from corporate productivity seminars, bizarre philosophical musings, re-pitched theme songs/deep cut pop rarities, etc.) and overall delivery, I feel it doesn’t really matter where they came from; it seems to me that we’re meant to feel as though we’re prisoners (maybe like Alex from A Clockwork Orange) being forced to experience the web through the dystopian lens BIC has chosen for us. Or perhaps the underlying implication is that, unlike Alex, we’re the ones in control of the onslaught of toxic, meaningless content; we just don’t have the discipline to get up and walk away. I don’t know. Whether or not that’s what BIC intended, beneath it all lurks subtle layers of lo-fi noise experimentation that really work to animate the eeriness of the scenario nonetheless. 

I implore you to not only buy this tape, but also to read the interview I linked in the first paragraph. It’s a rare look behind GA audio content that highlights Peter Kris’ social conscience, musical history, and laudable commitment to artistry void of ego – all aspects that greatly enhance the listening experience.

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