Draft:Yotzeret Sheydim
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Yotzeret Sheydim | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Desdemona Alyx Ill |
| Born | June 2, 1993 |
| Origin | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2021–present |
| Labels |
|
| Member of |
|
| Website | yotzeretsheydim |
Yotzeret Sheydim (Hebrew: יוצרת שדים, "she creates demons")[1][2] is the experimental/noise project of American musician Desdemona Alyx Ill (born June 2, 1993),[3] based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Since beginning the project in January 2021, Ill has put out nearly 50 releases, receiving particular attention for the album Avraham (2022).[1][4] She has also recorded music under the name Wretched Crawler.
History[edit]
Musician Desdemona Alyx Ill, originally from Pittsburgh, began Yotzeret Sheydim in January 2021.[1] She was inspired by friends in the noise music scene and her own rediscovery of Judaism after not practicing for many years.[1] Ill was drawn to noise music because "there are no limits or bounds to what can be done with sound and [the] presentation of that sound....[Also] pushing preconceived boundaries is the crux of the genre itself."[1]
One of the project's more popular releases is Avraham, released in April 2022 via Iatrophobia Records.[1] Named for Ill's Hebrew deadname, the album is themed around her Jewish and transgender identities.[1] Another album, Sefer Zohar (The Book of Radiance), received airplay from Tom Service on a 2023 episode of BBC Radio 3's New Music Show.[5] The music website Passion of the Weiss included Avraham on their list of "The Best Electronic Music of 2022"[6] and ranked her EP Evocation Experiment Aleph among the "Best Dance and Electronic Music" of March 2023.[4]
Artistry and themes[edit]
The music of Yotzeret Sheydim ranges in genre from harsh noise to dungeon synth, power electronics, and broadly experimental music, utilizing instruments such as shofar, synths, pedals, and drum machines.[1] Her album Sefer HaZohar (The Book of Radiance) uses "rhythmic noise, augmented chanted vocals, and a slew of pedals and synths",[1] while Sefer Yetzirah (The Book of Creation) features Hebrew chanting and elements of electronica, ambient, and glitch, with sounds of static, distorted shouting, and chalkboard scraping.[2] Avraham, meanwhile, was noted as being less harsh than her other work, with clearer, more decipherable vocals and a piano featured heavily throughout.[1] Sam Ribakoff of Passion of the Weiss described the latter album as "almost industrial-punk", as well as having elements of synth-punk, and her 2023 EP Evocation Experiment Aleph as "straight noise, but not ear piercing screams or walls of distortion, [rather] an album full of electrical sounds. Like the sound two live electrical wires make if they were like the size of a house. It’s my favorite ASMR record."[4][6]
Ill often creates art, jewelry, and homemade instruments to go with her music, as well as sound sculptures consisting of limited-release cassettes, CDs, and lathes with elaborate ritualistic designs intended to name and bind shedim.[1]
Ill summarizes the themes of Yotzeret Sheydim as "Judaism, demons, magic, making demons, converting objects to sound, converting sound to objects, and a bit about how building your own demons is really just about self-discovery over and over again," as well as aligning the project with her own anti-fascist, anti-Zionist, transhumanist, and anarchist beliefs.[1][2] Her work often references demons, which she distinguishes from those in the Christian tradition and instead sees as "mischievous weird little monsters that are made each time anything is created. They are the anti-divine spark, opposite the spark of creation."[1] The Book of Radiance and The Book of Creation are inspired by the Kabbalistic texts of the Zohar and the Sefer Yetzirah respectively, with the latter exploring Biblical accounts of Lilith and the Garden of Eden as a parallel to the Jewish diaspora.[1][2] Avraham, named for Ill's Hebrew deadname, was inspired by her experiences as a Jewish trans woman; the opening and closing tracks are about the bar mitzvah tradition, while other songs address gender dysphoria, military violence, and Ill's journey to reclaiming her faith.[1][2] Bandcamp Daily's Yoni Kroll likened her music to the Jewish traditions of nigunim and devekut, as well as the work of trombonist Dan Blacksberg,[1] while Noah Berlatsky wrote for Splice Today that Ill "embraces Jewish music as cacophony".[2]
Discography[edit]
Albums[edit]
| Year | Title | Label | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Teaching Myself To Swim Through Barbed Wire | Self-released | |
| Live From The Demon Dungeon 3/5/21 | |||
| 61 Broken Things | |||
| Sefer HaRazim (The Book of Secrets) | Doughgirl Tapes | Themed to the Sefer HaRazim. | |
| Mahalat | Self-released | ||
| 2022 | Seven Angels, Regretful, Weeping, Choking Down Their Own Names | Death to Dynamics | |
| We Love To Dance, We Love To Die | Self-released | ||
| Avraham | Iatrophobia | ||
| Ash'modai | Self-released | ||
| Greater Demon: Sigdroxith | Perpetual Abjection | ||
| Sefer HaZohar (The Book of Radiance) | Mechanical Presence | Themed to the Zohar | |
| 2023 | Sefer Yetzirah (The Book of Creation) | Deathbed Tapes | Themed to Sefer Yetzirah |
| The Return (HaShiva) | Self-released | ||
| Rikud HaMavet - Heathen | |||
| Rikud HaMavet - Bishop |
EPs and series[edit]
| Year | Title | Label | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Don't get into a strangers car | Self-released | Collection of Desdemona Alyx Ill's first two noise tracks |
| Lesser Demon Bound In Copper | A concept series of five eight cassette tapes, each one a recording of its copper j-card, themed around binding demons, being sculpted.[7] | ||
| Conjuration Experiments | Series of six recordings themed around conjuring demons, labeled Aleph through Vav. | ||
| Necromancy Experiments | |||
| Serpentomancy Experiments | |||
| Chronomancy Experiment א EP | |||
| 2022 | The Window To The Skeleton | ||
| 2022–2023 | Minor Demon Bound In Copper (001-009) | ||
| 2022 | Greater Demon Bound In Copper (001-002) | ||
| Returning Home, Machine Gun In Hand | |||
| 2023 | יד שמאל של הקוֹסֵם השד (The Left Hand of The Sheyd Mage) | ||
| Evocation Experiments | Doughgirl Tapes |
Singles[edit]
- "Agrat" (2021)
- "Stepping Up to the Altar" (2022)
Music videos[edit]
- "Stepping Up to the Altar" (2022; dir. Yam Lynn)
Split recordings[edit]
| Year | Title | Other artist(s) | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Scaffolding of Truth | Submachine gun | Self-released |
| Cyclone Tongue | Vor Pilatus | ||
| Hex Noise Wall | Ballerina in Blood | ||
| 2022 | From The River To The Sea | Bazahadar | Mutual Aid Records |
| To Draw Out and Dissect An Invisible Foe | Burnt-feathers | Self-released | |
| Map of the Garden | Dragon Maiden | ||
| Geomancy Experiments | Dosis Letalis |
Appears on[edit]
| Year | Artist/Label | Album | Song |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Glitch Artists Collective; Attenuation Circuit | Blessed/Cursed | "The Final Room of the Temple |
| Various; Doughgirl Tapes | 24 Hours of Terror | "Greater Demon, Unbound, Sleeping" | |
| VoidDweller; Psneaky Records | Employee | "Room Temperature Challenge" (VoidDweller ft. Yotzeret Sheydim) | |
| Various; Self-released | Hello Noise Wall | "My Demons Surround Me and Form Armor",
"A Shroud of Protection From a Cruel World" | |
| 2022 | Shut Up Trinity; Self-released | The Psychoeconomic God Chasm Remixes | "Zipf" (Yotzeret Sheydim remix) |
| Various; organized by Desdemona Alyx Ill | Monolithic Torment Forever | "Queen Harsh Noise Wall Forever", "Monolithic Torment Forever" |
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Kroll, Yoni (January 11, 2023). "Yotzeret Sheydim Explores Religious Practice Through Noise". Bandcamp Daily. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f Berlatsky, Noah (January 18, 2023). "Yotzeret Sheydim Makes Uncategorizable Jewish Noise". Splice Today. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
- ^ Alyx Ill [@yotzeret_sheydim] (June 2, 2023). "TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!💖🏳️🌈💖🏳️🌈💖🏳️🌈💖 I'm "30" years old! Estrogen keeps me looking young lol.😎😎😎..." Retrieved June 2, 2023 – via Instagram.
- ^ a b c Ribakoff, Sam (April 7, 2023). "Ghost in the 404: March 2023's Best Dance and Electronic Music". Passion of the Weiss. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
- ^ Service, Tom (February 11, 2023). "Claudia Molitor's Polymer Hauntings". BBC Radio 3. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
- ^ a b Ribakoff, Sam (December 27, 2022). "Ghost in the 404: The Best Electronic Music of 2022". Passion of the Weiss. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
- ^ "Lesser Demon Bound In Copper 001-005, by Yotzeret Sheydim". Bandcamp. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
External links[edit]
- Yotzeret Sheydim on Bandcamp
- Yotzeret Sheydim discography at Discogs
Category:American noise musicians Category:Musicians from Pittsburgh Category:2021 establishments Category:American women in electronic music Category:Jewish women musicians Category:Transgender Jews Category:American transgender musicians Category:Transgender women musicians Category:American anarchists Category:American experimental musicians Category:Power electronics musicians Category:LGBT people from Pennsylvania
Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people)