Thighpaulsandra - The Lepore Extrusion

The Lepore Extrusion is a CD of Thighpaulsandra's soundtrack work for Daniel Mckernan's interactive multimedia exhibit focussing on Amanda Lepore, the Number 1 transexual in America. Amanda Lepore is a celebrity on the New York club scene, and something of a transsexual muse to director and photographer David LaChapelle, appearing in his films and numerous advertising campaigns. She's undergone all sorts of cosmetic surgery and launched a musical career with Fatal Art Syndicate.

The spectral haze that opens The Lepore Extrusion is reminscent of Thighpaulsandra's work with Coil, a fluttering drone offset by slow-motion sound effects. It creates an eerie and dark presence, quite at odds with the hyper-glam persona of its subject, that gradually attracts a series of tones and timbres to pierce the shadowy cosmic glow. The second section of this single 45 minute track is more minimal with suspended tones, casting off gliding electronics into the stark alien terrain. Metallic clanging fashions a somewhat vague melody in the final section above a shimmering drone, before a series of random processed computerised sounds are unleashed. As those sounds gradually dissipate the space age synth music returns, culminating in a swirling vortex of pure black sound.

The Lepore Extrusion disc is expanded with a behind the scenes peak at Mckernans' video installation which forces the viewer into the mindset of an exhibitionist, an essay entitled Is Evolution Evil? Surgical Transformations as the New Punk Aesthetic in the 21st Century focussing on gender, transgender, fame and celebrity with emphasis on the body modifications and gender transformations of Orlan, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and Amanda Lepore.

The work of Thighpaulsandra varies greatly from the electronic group improvisations of Rape Scene and Chamber Music to the colourful idiosyncracies of his I, Thighpaulsandra and Double Vulgar solo releases, The Lepore Extrusion is perhaps the most structured and restrained piece from this talented Welsh musician, whose impressive discography takes in Coil, Julian Cope, The Waterboys and Spiritualized. The Lepore Extrusion is part of Brainwashed's Handmade series released in an edition of 500 handmade letterpress sleeves. I picked up a signed edition from Thighpaulsandra.com and you shouldn't waste time here as The Lepore Extrusion is a darkly alluring electronic and synthesizer score. For more information go to www.brainwashed.com or www.thighpaulsandra.com