That familiar spirit of playful chaos, randomness and intuitive groupimprovisation I've come to expect from Volcano The Bear is in fine formthroughout The Idea Of Wood.Even though VTB have been releasing music since 1996, this LP onTextile Records is only their third full-length studio album. The bulkof their work is scattered across a clutch of live cassettes and CD-Rs,10" vinyl editions, EPs and compilations. The Inhazer Decline and Five Hundred Boy Pianoshowed what the Bear could do when challenged to make a coherent album- tightly produced and concise, yet accurately reproducing the almostaccidental, improvisatory feel of their live shows. This is not an easytask. Consider other free-folk improv ensembles such as Jackie-OMotherfucker, Sunburned Hand of the Man and No Neck Blues Band; theiralbums tend to be hit-or-miss affairs dominated by unfocused meanderingwith occasional eruptions of senseless cacophony. In stark contrast, The Idea of Woodis a study in controlled chaos. VTB's singular grasp of group dynamicslends itself to the album format; their loose, disparate improvisationsare consistently reigned in and alchemized into instant skewed pop.Comparisons to The Residents, Faust and This Heat spring to mind, butthe Bear form their own unique clearing in the woods in which to shit.Itchy, atonal violin scrapes and insect buzzes flit nervously on "SheWhistles, I Cough Like A Tiger," a clattery improv that happens uponsome genuinely riveting moments of pure outsider weirdness. There isclear vibe of woodland ruralism that pervades The Idea Of Wood,as if it were the product of tree-dwelling hermits communicatingthrough a primitive language of acoustical phonetics. Aaron Moore'shushed vocals whispered over the warm buzzes and banjo scales of"Golden Hotbite" sound eerily similar to Robert Wyatt's muttering hobodelivery. "Woman Who Weighs Out The Wood" immerses the listener in anorganic sound environment where a gentle bed of cathedral chanting andmedieval percussion cushions the processed squawking of crows. It'sJohn Renbourn's Sir John A Lot Of as produced by Yamatsuka Eye."Curly Robot" is this album's beating heart, a 10-minute excursion thatbegins with muted jazz but transforms into a simmering invocation ofthe pastoral gods of Frazer's Golden Bough. Miles ahead of theirfree-folk contemporaries, Volcano The Bear's The Idea Of Wood is teeming with life and coursing with sympathetic magic.samples:
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