Planam / Italy / 2018
On Sido Not Dead, CJA tears open a world of lo-fi chaos and fragmented songcraft, channeling the unruly pulse of New Zealand’s underground into an experience that is both raw and unpredictable.
Clayton Noone, operating under his long-running CJA alias, presents a work that stands as a stark, uncompromising statement from the heart of Aotearoa’s experimental community. With a vast catalog and a reputation for fearless sonic exploration, CJA here delivers an album that feels improvised in the moment—tape hiss, fractured melodies, and dissolving song forms flashing into existence only to vanish again.
The sound is defiantly unpolished: recorded with minimal means, every hiss, creak, and accidental scrape becomes part of the music’s fabric. But within the grit lies an inventive playfulness, where guitar, voice, and electronics clash and intertwine to reveal sudden, fragile moments of beauty. Rather than resist imperfection, CJA leans into it, shaping a record that bristles with immediacy and vitality.
Sido Not Dead embodies the DIY spirit that has defined New Zealand’s outsider music for decades—a record that thrives on risk, impermanence, and reinvention. For those drawn to the untamed edges of sound, it is essential listening.