- Michael Patrick Brady
- Albums and Singles
I wonder what kind of shoes that members of A Northern Chorus wear. Ifeel confident in assuming that they are familiar with every nook andcranny of their footwear, from the wrinkles that ring their toes to thestrains in the laces. I say this because I take Spirit Flagsto be the product of some very attentive, and very detailed shoegazers;a deeply immersing listen that sweeps across you like a warm blanket.The album begins with the twinkling, lullaby melody of "Song and I,"and as the music slowly fades closer to the fore, the dreamy vocalharmonies reveal themselves hovering through the instruments, blendingthemselves perfectly, neither standing out nor going unnoticed butgiving the song an amazing buoyancy. The songs on Spirit Flagsare excursions in texture and depth, the shortest track falling justshort of the four-minute mark. Rarely does it seem that any track hasoverstayed its welcome, as the melodies and harmonies frequently expandand evolve into other forms amidst the guitar wash and plaintivecontributions of flute and violin. On "Let the Parrots Speak forThemselves" and "Take Your Canvas Elsewhere," the reedy lead vocals attimes evoke Dean Wareham, while often taking on a full-bodied tenor oftheir own. "Mombassa" is a somewhat darker track, mixing a spookyreverb with sampled sound bites of fire and brimstone preachersbellowing (seemingly at each other, but it's just the way the samplesare overlaid) about God knows what, something about not believing inthe resurrection. It makes for a rather effective mood piece, with thefervor and intensity of the speakers contrasting with the tentative,ethereal musical background like a splash of cold water in a warm bed."I Dreamt the World had Ended" continues where "Mombassa" began, withdark lyrics about the sky exploding and choking fire being enveloped ina less than menacing arrangement. It doesn't seem at all dissonant orout of place, however. It is, after all, just a dream. For the mostpart, A Northern Chorus inhabits a limited range of tempo, and whilesome dynamics in that respect might have added more power to some oftheir songs, clearly they were aiming for a more subdued attack. Thatsubtlety can be just as powerful as displayed in a brief break on'Eilan Donan," with the music suddenly disappearing as ghostlike vocalsintone, "We'll be right on your heels." In that short moment, it isimmensely affecting. Spirit Flags slowly seeps along, at timesbeautiful and comforting. Whatever kind of shoes A Northern Choruswears, they must be very interesting.Read More
The concept of live music accompanying moving pictures is as old ascinema itself; pianists and organists often providing the soundtrack tothe images that danced on the screens in darkened movie houses. Inrecent years, some musicians have renewed the interest in silent filmsof the day by performing their modern compositions along as an updatedsoundtrack. For J. Swinscoe and his Cinematic Orchestra, such a task issecond nature, given the nature of the group's original concept thattheir name validates. Man With A Movie Camerais their current soundtrack to Russian film maker Dziga Vertov's 1929classic of the same name. As a variant of the title also appeared as atrack on last year's Every Day, the Cinematics would be themost likely candidates for such a project. The band recorded the disc'sseventeen tracks live in the studio with the augmentation of a stringtrio and percussionist for a more cohesive performance. Man With A Movie Camera is comprised of renamed workings of selections from Every Dayin which the live strings replace sampled ones, some new compositions,interludes and a few covers. "The Awakening of a Woman" is easilyidentifiable as last year's "Burn Out" from its slit-drum percussionintro and melodic strings progressions. The live performance andinstrumentation give this track a more organic feel in comparison tothe original recording. The newer "Odessa" and "The Magician" aredelicate piano pieces performed by Jon Ellis with a classical touchthat would probably sound all the more beautiful with the accompanyingvisuals for which they were intended. "Work It!" is best know by theaforementioned title track. Its mechanical feel of plucked strings andhaunting soprano saxophone intro are very powerful in the liveperformance setting. The busy latin-jazz groove of "Reel Life" isperformed almost note perfect from the remix "Evolution II" by thegroup's turntablist, Patrick Carpenter. Swinscoe and company again paytriubute to Lester Bowie and the Art Ensemble of Chicago with theirrenditions of the group's "Theme De Yoyo," "Theme Reprise" and "YoyoWaltz" which manage to capture a playful energy in a funky environment.A DVD of the group in performance accompanying the original Man With A Movie Camera film is due out this week, at which point this already great soundtrack should become part of a more powerful medium.
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
The concept of live music accompanying moving pictures is as old ascinema itself; pianists and organists often providing the soundtrack tothe images that danced on the screens in darkened movie houses. Inrecent years, some musicians have renewed the interest in silent filmsof the day by performing their modern compositions along as an updatedsoundtrack. For J. Swinscoe and his Cinematic Orchestra, such a task issecond nature, given the nature of the group's original concept thattheir name validates. Man With A Movie Camerais their current soundtrack to Russian film maker Dziga Vertov's 1929classic of the same name. As a variant of the title also appeared as atrack on last year's Every Day, the Cinematics would be themost likely candidates for such a project. The band recorded the disc'sseventeen tracks live in the studio with the augmentation of a stringtrio and percussionist for a more cohesive performance. Man With A Movie Camera is comprised of renamed workings of selections from Every Dayin which the live strings replace sampled ones, some new compositions,interludes and a few covers. "The Awakening of a Woman" is easilyidentifiable as last year's "Burn Out" from its slit-drum percussionintro and melodic strings progressions. The live performance andinstrumentation give this track a more organic feel in comparison tothe original recording. The newer "Odessa" and "The Magician" aredelicate piano pieces performed by Jon Ellis with a classical touchthat would probably sound all the more beautiful with the accompanyingvisuals for which they were intended. "Work It!" is best know by theaforementioned title track. Its mechanical feel of plucked strings andhaunting soprano saxophone intro are very powerful in the liveperformance setting. The busy latin-jazz groove of "Reel Life" isperformed almost note perfect from the remix "Evolution II" by thegroup's turntablist, Patrick Carpenter. Swinscoe and company again paytriubute to Lester Bowie and the Art Ensemble of Chicago with theirrenditions of the group's "Theme De Yoyo," "Theme Reprise" and "YoyoWaltz" which manage to capture a playful energy in a funky environment.A DVD of the group in performance accompanying the original Man With A Movie Camera film is due out this week, at which point this already great soundtrack should become part of a more powerful medium.Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
Tape's album Operamight be coming on the heels of the latest craze that pits guitarplucking and mouse clicking against each other in a sonic cage match ofsorts, but it is nevertheless a fine example of the way that digitaland acoustic instruments can work together seamlessly.The songs are made up of a variety of recorded instruments from guitarand horminca to melodica and accordian—instruments whose timbres arefaithfully maintained rather than spliced into a trillion fragmentedbits. The digital post-processing here serves to add a layer of grit tothe otherwise folky melodies that carry most of the songs, and tointerject the alien sounds that balance out the compositions. "ReturnTo Ship" is indicative of the album's tone, and begins with rumblinglow-end noise that builds through some droning instruments into aguitar passage that loops to serve the spinal cord for an organicorganism composed of off-kilter static and atonal whines. What makes Operawork is the solid foundation of simple melodies that allow themusicians room to experiment with the details. Simple tines andglockenspiel phrases serve as the familiar, while swarms of processedbits and bytes fade into and out of the mix providing an exotic spicethat keeps the songs from ever sounding simplistic. Many of the songscould almost be sweet if it weren't for the warbling effected dronesand flittering digitalia that run throughout. In the end, Operaabandons sentimentality in exchange for a strange tension that works toelevate the laptop noodling and the instrument playing to somethingelse entirely.Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
Raw honesty and incredible musicianship happens to make this white boywanna shake his ass. Guitars, horns, organ, and the most groovtasticdrums I've heard in a long time work together to drop one giant bomb ofgrimy funk. Sure, I've heard this sort of thing before and lets faceit: this is the same kind of funk made during funk's heyday and it's ahard formula to change without totally spoiling that thing that makesfunk so great. But Sugarman Three pull it off perfectly. Wah-wah pedalsplaster the walls, organs jive and moan and dear me do they wail, andthen there's drumming. I can't say enough about the team of Rudy Albinand Ernesto Abreu. Throughout the album they effortlessly createrhythms that pulse, flow, and force me to sway, tap my foot, or evenget up out of my chair and dance the best I possibly can. Even therather down-tempo "Modern Jive" has a groove to it that simply cannotbe refused. "Funky So-and-So" is the veritable big-bang that startsthis bad-boy off on the good foot and paves the way for the bad thing.Contained herein is a percussion breakdown made of pure sweet sugar,just as the title implies."Shot Down" puts some serious tension in my stomach and gets my bloodflowing, most of the time I want to scream right along with Lee Fieldsand it's hard to contain the excitement. (I feel bad for people thathave to ride in my car with me when I listen to this.) The tension isreal and the funk is hot.This is a lightning-fast record at just over fourty-one minutes longand I think I've had it on repeat for about ten plays now. Excuse me,but after listening to this I have the urge to go out and find myself alady-friend to get down with, I'm feelin' a bit frisky.Read More
- Michael Patrick Brady
- Albums and Singles
"This is some heavy metalloid music," declared Edgar Breau as he lookedout from the roof of the Lloyd D. Jackson Shopping Center one day in1975. "It's a song about the future, where unless you have a metalbody, they aren't gonna let you walk the streets. No kidding." To thepassing, most likely confused consumers that milled about below them,Simply Saucer must have seemed as if they had truly come from someparanoid, metallic future. In reality, they were a bunch of guys fromHamilton, Ontario who had Funhouse and White Light / White Heatscorched into their brains, plus a prescient affinity for dirty guitarsand electronic manipulations. Over the course of their brief existence,Simply Saucer put out only one release, 1978's "She's a Dog" b/w "I CanChange My Mind" 45. That is, until 1989 saw the first issue of the Cyborgs RevisitedLP, a compilation that combined the songs from their mall performancewith six never before heard studio tracks (engineered by fellowCanadians Daniel and Robert Lanois, who went on to produce PeterGabriel, Bob Dylan, and U2.) Cyborgs only saw the Simply Saucercult grow, and for good reason. Now, Sonic Unyon rescues this lostclassic from out of print oblivion, as well as adding seven unreleaseddemos plus the "She's a Dog" single. The result is a comprehensivetestament to the brilliance of Simply Saucer's blend of vicious guitarslop and experimentation with analog electronics. Songs like "InstantPleasure" and "Electro Rock" begin as simple odes of teenage crushesand idle imagination before disintegrating into maelstroms of freneticguitar. The noisy, angular indulgence becomes draws even closer toabstraction when sine waves and synthesizers float in, creating a murkyatmosphere that's equal parts temper tantrum and icy stare. The garagestandard of the sexually frustrated teen, a la the Stooges "No Fun"takes on a less than innocent tone with Simply Saucer. "I'm cyanideover you," moans Breau on "Nazi Apocalypse," and later on the new demo"Little Sally," he menacingly bursts open on a rival, "I wanna killthat other guy / I'll punch him right between the eyes." "Mole Machine"is an instrumental assault whose bleats of sharp, metallic noise wouldnot sound out of place on a Sonic Youth record. The climax of Cyborgs Revisitedcomes with "Illegal Bodies," the song Breau described as heavymetalloid music. It is a live ten-minute epic that careens aboutBreau's ranting and raving about the future of cyborgs before eruptinginto a free form solo section that is positively mind bending. Theseven songs that make up the newly released demos were recorded afterthe departure of Ping Romany's electronics, and are far less maddenedthan the previous tracks. They do, however, retain the attitude andcharm, and make for an excellent addendum to Cyborgs. The"She's a Dog" single, while good for completeness, falls far short ofthe bulk of Simply Saucers material, serving as the last gasp of a bandthat had already begun to call it a night. It's a minor stumble on anotherwise solid career-spanning document. Cyborgs Revisited is the aural equivalent of a paranoid delusion, a psychotic episode that clutches tightly until it shakes itself apart. Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
A few weeks backs, I reviewed Pole's 45/45EP, the first in Stefan Betke's new trinity of releases, and myskepticism was thinly veiled. The addition of percussion andtraditional instrumentation to the once purist minimal dub style thathe helped pioneer left a question on my tongue: Would Pole still berelevant if he sounded like everyone else? Like many influentialmusicians before him, Pole may have released his best work already, andis progressing into the next phase of his career: where grumpy musicgeeks criticize every new release using as many hackneyed clichephrases as possible. More often than not, those music geeks make validpoints and the introduction of spoken word / rap has sealed Betke'sfate in the music press. The hip hop flavored "Slow Motion" featuresFat Jon over a head-nodding groove that will please backpackers andokayplayers, but will undoubtedly alienate those hoping for more of hisglitchy dub. Fortunately, the instrumental version offers some reliefand bears more of a resemblance to his earlier work, despite theprominent drum loop. In an act of self-indulgent excess, the disccloses with an acapella version that you can alternatively play overthe older Pole songs that you'd rather hear. In the midst of all thisis "I Can't Hear," a woefully bad hybrid of Pole's new fuller soundwith John Zorn styled saxophone flatulence. Ultimately, all of thesequasi-intelligent vocals and paint-by-numbers beats presented here setsthe mood for what promises to be a letdown of a new full-length album.I haven't had the heart to disappoint myself fully by listening to theadvance copy of the CD that I've had now for weeks. Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
Mogwai have figured out how to take the energy of their long and noise-filled songs and condense them into even more atomic balls of might. Their fifth full-length is an album of rolling and mostly gentle melancholy. That isn't to say that Mogwai has lost their hard edge; the music does have its heavy moments.
Most of the album has a subterranean or aquatic feeling to it, however. If the instruments aren't floating or weaving they're burrowing towards the warm center of the earth. "Hunted By a Freak" starts things out slowly and surely with a somewhat vocoded voice singing along unintelligibly in the background. The guitars have a bell-like effect to them and ring brightly throughout the track. The rhythm is tense and by the end of the song the mood has been set for an ecstatic experience. Though "Kids Will Be Skeletons" is an upbeat song (and a gorgeous one at that), the first heart-pounding, foot-stomping adventure is "Killing All the Flies." The vocoded voice of mystery makes its return on this one and sweetly caresses the air with the violins and the meandering guitars before everything erupts in a hail of triumph. Strangely enough, that's a great description for how a lot of this music feels. The melodies, though they sound lonely, also have a recovering feel to them; it's the sound of rising up and overcoming. "Ratts of the Capital" is the longest song on Happy Songs and it is the perfect release. I got shivers the first time I heard it and it just keeps sounding better and better. It makes me want to find a chainsaw and go on a rampage for some reason. Mogwai have found a great way of juxtaposing their noiser and heavier moments with their soft and and delicate ones. Overall I think this sets an example: a shotgun to the face doesn't need a ten minute introduction; it's powerful enough by itself.
samples:
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
Inwiefern interessiert es den bzw. die Künstler vom Rezipentenverstanden zu werden bzw eine Kommunikationsbasis herzustellen ? SindAE uns tatsächlich weit voraus in jedweder Hinsicht oder haben sie sichmusikalisch nicht einfach eine Auszeit genommen um sich soweit imAbseitz zu positionieren das sich diese Frage garnicht mehr stellt ?Womöglich sind sie gar die einzig wahren Androiden - Maschinensprachefür Maschinenmenschen. Das Publikum dankt Ihnen jeglichen Hauch vonRhythmus und Melodie ergeben, keimt doch dadurch die Hoffnung desEinzelnen zum elitären Zirkel dazuzugehören - zu verstehen worum es"wirklich" geht.
Softwareprogrammierer und Hi-Tech Frickler als die idealenÜberkonsumenten der Mediengesellschaft. Wichtig ist Ihnen nicht dasResultat sondern das Wie ? Keine Frage mehr nach dem Warum bzw. Wofürkristalliert sich heraus, wer will schon tiefer bohren wenn allein dasWie mehr als ausreichend Gesprächstoff bietet. Musikalischer Ausdruckals Abfallprodukt kreativen Programmierungswahns. Eine Sackgasse die AEmeiner Ansicht nach bis zum Ende gegangen sind.
Mein Verdacht bestätigte sich durch ein aktuelles Interview in dem SeanBooth tatsächlich erklärt das sie diesmal fast auschließlich mitProgrammen gearbeitet haben die sie beherrschen - im Gegentum zu denletzten beiden Alben die eher Testergebnisse der jeweils allerneustenPlug-In's waren und entmythisiert damit die als Manifeste derAbstraktion gefeierten Vorgänger gehörig.
Fortschritt durch Rückschritt ? Wer kann das schon noch beurteilen wennmehr Tonträger veröffentlicht werden als der einzelne je Zeit habenwird zu hören. Hat die dekonstruierte Abstraktion allerdings ausgedient? Autechre sind und bleiben dankbare Zielscheiben für die absurdestenTheorien - daran hat sich wieder einmal nichts geändert.
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
Along with a morphing cast of co-conspirators, Sean O'Neal has spentthe last decade or so slapping the Flowchart name onto an astoundinglylarge assortment of albums, EPs, singles, split releases, compilationtracks and more. While the project may now be associated primarily withself-described "quirky, half-assed electronic frolic," O'Neal andcompany have roots that are planted in the indie, shoegazer and spacerock scenes, as evidenced quite nicely by much of the material on thisambitious trio of anthology discs.
The fittingly but awkwardly titled Pre-2000 Singles and Comp Tracks Part Onebrings the listener back to Flowchart's earliest days, starting withthe first 7" recorded by the trio of O'Neal, Brodie Budd and CraigBottel and released in 1994 under the name Heroine. "High Phidelity"features the single-note guitar riffing and droning organ that led tothe Stereolab comparisons that dogged them for the next couple ofyears, while "Pronoun-U" is a noise-pop gem with an unmistakable MyBloody Valentine vibe. A name change to Flowchart quickly followed, asdid a slew of singles and compilation appearances, with the majority ofthose from 1994 to 1996 featured on this volume. Most of these werewritten and recorded by the original trio, with the work of thatline-up fitting pretty comfortably into the mid-90s space-rock andshoegazer cubbyholes, and generally comparing favorably to most othersimilarly minded artists from that time frame such as Stereolab, Fuxaand Windy & Carl. Around the two-thirds mark of the disc, we hitthe point where the group became a solo project for O'Neal, and thesound starts to vary considerably, ranging from twee guitar pop tonaïve stabs at atmospheric electronica. The set is wrapped up nicelywith an echo-laden cover version of The Sundays' "Here's Where TheStory Ends."
samples:
An ideal appendix/companion to the first Pre-2000 volume is Evergreen Noise Is Flexible/The Spirit of Kenny G,a disc that brings together two EPs that were originally released in1996 on either side of the membership shake-up. Evergreen features fourdrone-rock tracks from the O'Neal/Budd/Bottel trio (joined on twotracks by Bill Nace), and the 12-minute title track holds an especiallystrong whiff of mid-90s Stereolab with its hypnotic guitar line,motorik drum rhythms, waves of moody organ and synth, and breathyvocals that are barely discernable beneath the swirling instrumentaldin. The point on this disc where Evergreen ends and the Kenny Gmaterial begins is an easy one to spot, as the second EP kicks of witha funky, "Theme From Shaft"-style guitar riff and clear baritone vocalsintoning the strange statement "And I write my diary / In the spirit ofKenny G." Like the later tracks on the Part One anthology, this wesbasically a Sean O'Neal solo record, and the five tracks veer in toneand style from the punchy "E-Flare Pop" (a pretty humorous ode to goingto a rave and tripping on a combination of Ecstasy and Vapo-Rub) to theatmospheric ambient-drone of "Glorious and Prosperous" and "DrunkenMini-Musik."
samples:
The third CD in this retrospective trilogy is Pre-2000 Singles and CompTracks Part Two,a disc that gathers widely scattered tracks from 1997 to 1999. Thefirst two tracks provide a solid link to the previous volume. "RainbowHotel" is a quirky pop number recorded with a full band and "BasementNoise is Flexible" is a somewhat fractured sounding outtake from thegroup's original line-up. Things change considerably from track threeonwards, as O'Neal is joined by new partner Erin Anderson and theguitars are pretty much abandoned in exchange for electronics andsamples. At first, the naïve melodies and repetitive vocal samples thatappear on the bulk of these tracks are cute and fun, but the formulasoon wears thin, and "cute and fun" quickly becomes "trite andannoying". They were probably fine when they were taken in small dosesas 7" singles and compilation appearances, but 45 minutes of tracksthat are so simple and saccharine is just too much to take at once.Thankfully, the "cute-tronica" mold is broken towards the end of thedisc with a couple of pieces that are very ambient and atmospheric intone, setting the stage for the more satisfying sounds that Flowcharthas been responsible for from the year 2000 forward.
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
Inducing the Sleep Sphere opens with some warm electronic humsthat bend around the ears in a pleasant way, before being joined bygently melodic electric guitar, drums, and a wall of fuzz guitaratmospherics. Sounds nice, doesn't it? Unfortunately, this iswell-mined territory. The melodies, the swirling Kevin Shields guitarnoise, the atmospheric production: it's been heard all before. It'svirtually impossible to discuss The Land of Nod without comparing themto My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Spacemen 3 or a gaggle of otheratmospheric shoegazer bands that did it first, and did it better.Though they are obviously talented instrumentalists, The Land of Nodsimply refuse to reveal any personality or originality that would makethis music more than just the sum of its influences. "A Sequence ofSpeed" is so indebted to the motorik beat and punk-light melodies ofkrautrock band Neu! that it seems like Michael Rother and KlausDinger—and not The Land of Nod—should be credited for the song. "LooseContact" is a lone bright spot: a cavernous ambient piece that soundslike Jimi Hendrix riffing on "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the bottomof a mine shaft. "Le Sommet a Mont Venoux" is actually nothing morethan the tune of "Frere' Jacques" repeated ad nauseum with lots ofreverb and French dialogue samples. The rest of the tracks are tepidretreads of Mogwai-esque drone-rock boredom, with some predictablypretty melodies lifted directly from Durutti Column. This music reallyis capable of inducing sleep, and for all the wrong reasons.Read More
