Reviews Search

Kinski/Paik/Surface of Eceyon, "Crickets and Fireflies"

Music Fellowship
Part two in The Music Fellowship Triptychs series finds more of thesame beautiful instrumental noise rock, just from different talents.Kinski, Paik, and Surface of Eceyon have all gained acclaim for theirindividual and unique contributions to the drone rock landscape, thatis becoming more of a pastiche these days. All the groups havedifferent sounds when listened to separately, but together, as they arein this series, they tend to sound very much the same. This is notnecessarily a mark against them, however, as the more the music has thesame organic feel and structure, the more it comes off as a cohesiverelease and therefore more palatable. All three bands have newfull-length records coming out on separate labels later in the year,and if this EP is any indication those records could level a city. Onthe cleverly-titled "Keep Clear of Me, I Am Maneuvering WithDifficulty," Kinski continues with their typical sonic explorations,this time in one track with three separate movements. Completelyimprovised, the music blends nicely into each piece, slowly building tostart, then unleashing in a crushing rhythm and a bleeding, wailingdistortion of guitars. It annoys successfully, even while it impresses,then fades out in a lovely buzz and tremble meld of organ and synthsounds, as if the song wants to give your ears a salve. Paik doesn'twade in at all, just menaces with a brooding bassline and feedback.Echoed guitars join to up the noise factor, and then the hammer fallswith the measured persistence of the drums. Paik's second song, "Eva,"is lighter in tone, but a well-crafted selection that leads well intothe music of Surface of Eceyon. With no explanation as to the slightchange in their name (nor an explanation as to why both spellingsappear in the booklet), this brave collaboration between members ofLanding and Yume Bitsu with Phil Jenkins gives a taste of theirconception in their composition. "Concert of Stars" was recorded duringone of the band's early sessions together, though it sounds like anevolution of sound. Pure improvisation from the vessyl informs theirinstruments and minds to create a thirty-minute opus of ambient beauty.It certainly bears an appropriate name, too, as I could easily enjoy avisit to the planetarium if this was the soundtrack. This second partof the Tryyptych Series rivals the first and is worth a concentratedlisten, even if some of the music is better absorbed then heard.

samples: