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- Albums and Singles
Similar to the Tortoise and New Year albums, the newest Labradford audio document also heads down the path of re-examining older concepts through current methodology. (And like the New Year, this was also recorded with assistance from Steve Albini in July of 2000 in Chicago.) The trio return to a certain purity of earlier albums with the absence of additional players which colored the last few. 'Fixed::Content' could be the most personal recording a group like Labradford can get while remaining completely instrumental. The album is an exercise in patience, symmetry and impressionistically represents the group as the trio they are.
Side one is completely filled by "Twenty," which reintroduces the interstate trio with a warm sub-bass frequency pulse combined with two guitarists paying careful attention to each other. It's the establishment of foundation and order, of which the rest of the album is to follow. Bobby Donne has put down the bass this time out and has become the strong force of the left channel as guitarist throughout the entire CD. Mark Nelson's guitar work predominates the right channel while Carter's organic cushion and foundation spans both. Taking its time, "Twenty" appropriately passes into different phases, starting with a long play of guitars and drones, then adding slow, glitchy electronic beats and graceful lead notes emerging from the organic keyboards, finishing with a static-esque hum through fade out. Side two follows a similar formula of both guitarists playing complimentary melodies on each side while breathy electronics take the foundation. Side two is also notably broken up into three songs of relatively equal length, which can also be interpreted as representational of the trio.
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- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles
Romanian-born, Julliard-trained composer and violinist Alexander Balanescu assembled an 8 member group to create a 57 hour live soundtrack, with additional live performances, for the Austrian Ars Electronica festival this past September. The event took place for 15 hours a day at the Klangpark, a large public listening space created by 4 loud speaker towers near the Danube in downtown Linz. Each of the 4 days focused on a different song by popular Romanian singer Maria Tanase as inspiration, "Lume Lume" being one of those. The invited musicians: Isabella Bordoni, Rupert Huber, Sergio Messina, Siegfried Ganhör and members of to rococo rot are a diverse group of mostly electronic artists from different musical backgrounds, styles, production methods and generations. The 17 pieces edited for the disc by Balanescu range from 2 to 10 minutes (72 total) and seamlessly flow into one another, most titles referring to the status of the weather (too much rain apparently) and different times of different days. Electronics dominate with fluid environments, deep bass and simple beats (and somewhat surprisingly there's not a glitch to be found) and are further broadened by Bordoni's spoken voice and Balancescu's violin on a handful of tracks. And it's these in particular that are the highlights, where the violin meshes beautifully and effortlessly with the others. I've never been to Austria or experienced such a sound event firsthand but "Lume Lume" does clearly evoke for me the chemistry of the musicians and the place. Much like Brian Eno's "Ambient 4: On Land", this disc puts me right there where the music was conceived. This must have been truly remarkable for those who actually were there .Read More
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- Albums and Singles
Premiered first at Sonar 2000, this release could very well be an impressionistic aural painting of a thunderstorm which gets closer and closer, unleashes its wrath and then breaks.
For over two minutes it (a 43 minute-long one-tracker) is completely silent. At the 2:10 mark, a stab of a guitar riff, ten seconds later another seemingly identical one. After a succession of twelve almost equally spaced apart stabs they begin to arrive more frequently, spaced apart now only by five seconds of silence. The frequency of attacks increases before long as it's now down to two seconds. 5¬Ω minutes into the disc the storm arrives with a barrage of guitarrorism from heavy metal riffs all played simultaneously. Layers upon layers appear to flow in but for all I know it might have been done all on a four-track.
I remember doing recordings like this as a teenager on a four-track recorder, so I can safely say it is quite possible to trick the listener into believing they're hearing more than what's really there. If your ears haven't bled dry by the 32¬Ω minute mark then congratulations! You're rewarded by silence again. The silence continues through the end of the disc, without surprise stabs thrown in to scare you. At the end I'm left with a few issues with this disc. Are we, the listener supposed to question the purpose of this CD? I am having a hard time trying to figure out what type of person would actually enjoy this and listen repeatedly over time. I'm also wondering if this was a knock-off for Lopez or did he spend years making this absolutely perfect. For me, this recording could be very handy at stop lights when some chump in the next car is blaring tacky rock-rap, tired classic rock or unbearable pop. I'm sure it could also possibly into uses like voice mail or promotional radio spots down at the station too.
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- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles
Scottish born, Chicago based singer/songwriter Chris Connelly is often compared to David Bowie, Scott Walker and the like but he has truly come into his own over the past decade. "Blonde Exodus" is the 5th album of his solo career, the second to be credited with his new band The Bells. And unlike the previous album "The Ultimate Seaside Companion", here The Bells live band (Mark Henning - guitars, mandolin, backing vocals, timpani; Henry Polk - bass guitar; Kim Ambriz - drums, percussion; and others) serve as the studio band too providing a solid live band sound throughout. Dramatic, poetic pop song craft is Connelly's forte as he takes great care in marrying his expressive lyrics, mostly relationship adventures, to lush and melodic arrangements of acoustic and electric guitars, piano, harmonica, keyboards, female backing vocals and strings. "Generique" opens the curtains of this play with a gorgeous, swirling theme and French text reading. Most of the songs to follow are mid tempo pop rock in the 3 to 5 minute range, save for the title track which comes in two near 8 minute mini epics, the former detailing the doomed journey of a model from 'Chicago to Milano'. "Diamonds Eat Diamonds", dedicated to fellow Scot singer Billy Mackenzie of the Associates, begs 'if I could will you sweet angel, back to the front, I would force my doors open, kiss you like diamonds eat diamonds'. "Blue Hooray!" is a bitter condemnation of a former lover with the repeated line 'you were always hoping that I'd immortalize you in a song'. "Magnificent Wing" and "The Long Weekend" are fantastic bits of travelogue, the former with rolling tides of timpani. "Julie Delpy" is by far the catchiest and up beat tune, infectiously so with gorgeous piano work and a declaration: 'and I want you, most sincerely, to acknowledge, right of place, when all your life appears to be a waste'. The "Closing Titles" cleverly deliver a spoken cast of those responsible, bringing the album to a curtain call close. Brilliant! Chris Connelly is simply one of the finest living songwriters today as far as I'm concerned, a woefully unsung artistic treasure, and "Blonde Exodus" is once again sure proof of that .Read More
- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles
Bill Rieflin and Chris Connelly have been friends and collaborators for nearly 15 years beginning with Revolting Cocks/Ministry albums, tours and side projects. "Largo" is the 15th album they've appeared on together, a series of 'writing experiments' literally a decade in the making and finally recorded this past year. The stark b/w cover photo of the pairs' stern faced floating heads gives a good indication of the slow and quiet, minimalist aesthetic of the music. Most of the 13 tracks are centered around Connelly's voice and guitar and Rieflin's piano then further embellished with drum machine, keyboards, basses (Fred Chalenor) and strings (Caroline Lavelle and members of The Alexandria Quartet). The title track is the lengthiest at near 8 minutes and immediately sets the tone with spacious chords and lovely melodies intermittently set to metronome. "Pray'r" is more compact with an aching vocal, steady guitar strums and bass groove, flirtatious keys and a simple rhythm. "Strayed" and "Salt of Joy" update past solo Connelly album songs, the former with an additional verse and double bass, the latter with a newly penned call and response vocal. "Close Watch" and "Sea Song" are strong, reverent and fitting covers, John Cale and Robert Wyatt respectively. "Wake" is a poem in 3 brief parts: the first a cute lullaby, the second a more straightforward vocal and piano exercise and the third a barrage of rapid piano notes and melodramatic singing. "Rondo" is a wonderfully light and breezy, cinematic instrumental theme. "The Call Girls" features the most abstract poetry and an elegant swan diving cello part by Lavelle. "Prayer" serves as a solo piano bridge to "Y", a song devoid of repeating parts and with Connelly's voice reaching it's highest possible register. Altogether "Largo" is a beautiful piece of work, powerful in it's genuine emotional honesty and intensity rather than instrumentation and volume overkill. The composition is tastefully spare throughout and the mood varies from outright somber to fun. This is a crowning jewel in both mens' careers and I'm certain it will be in my top 10 of 2001 list. The duo plan on touring later this year, piano in tow .Read More
- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles
Calla is the Texas-bred, NYC-based trio of Aurelio Valle (vocals, guitar), Wayne B. Magruder (programming, percussion, drums) and Sean Donovan (bass, keyboards, programming). "Scavengers" is their second full length in as many years and the first for Michael Gira's Young God Records. The sound is somewhat minimal, always stark yet spacious, centered around husky hushed vocals, cleanly plucked guitar with mild Americana overtones and a seriously deep bass guitar groove. Add to that adequate rhythm and a very slight amount of subtle electronics and programming for atmosphere. Most lyrical passages are morphine drip slow while musical passages are allowed to repeat and crescendo, to a certain point. The image of crawling is expressed lyrically in two songs and in the title of a brief instrumental third, "A Fondness for Crawling". The last track is an utterly beautiful cover of U2's "Promenade" presented as if it were Calla's own ... and it is now as far as I'm concerned. "Scavengers" has an honest and deep sense of vulnerability, longing and heartbreak throughout. It makes you want to listen to it over and over again and revel in it rather than immediately shut it off and slash your wrists. A remix 12" for "Fear of Fireflies / Slum Creeper" is in the works.Read More
- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles
Tristan Bechet of Portugal and Sebastien Brault of Madagascar formed Flux Information Sciences in NYC in 1996 and with the aid of a revolving door membership have released 4 full length albums to date, "Private / Public" being their debut for producer Michael Gira's Young God Records. The duo abuse guitars, bass, keyboards and samplers and are further augmented here by drummer Derek Etheridge. An explosive percussive onslaught drives most of the songs, many 2 minutes or less, with occasional breaks for sample blitz, menacing soundscapes and even some genuine tender moments. A delightfully bizarre fun house/show biz humor prevails as lyrics are generally simple repeated slogans yelled in English over and under the sonic fury. Imagine if you can something that borrows a bit from early SWANS, Suicide, Big Black, The Monks, Devo and James Chance ... it's simultaneously ugly, quirky, chaotic, energetic and fun with a thoroughly lo-fi DIY punk attitude. Some comments on a few of my favorites tracks: "Adaptech" dances like a mechanical monkey on crack. "Sit Down, Silly!" is the best Big Black song they never wrote. "Love" seems sincere with lovely organ and backwards guitar melodies, straightforward drums and the single word lyric, "love". I have a single word summary for all of "Public / Private": FUN! - Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles
Biafra's crusade continues with his 6th spoken word album in 14 years. Like the previous album, 1998's "If Evolution Is Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Evolve", this one is a lot to take in at well over 3 hours on 3 discs (for the price of 1) of live material from various shows and conventions throughout 2000. And now more than ever Jello, always one to expose corporate, religious and political conspiracies, has a lot to talk about: the presidential election and his brief Green Party candidacy, the World Trade Organization, the Columbine shootings backlash, online networking, censorship, the drug war, mp3s and Napster, his court case with the other Dead Kennedys, reports from the Republican and Democratic Conventions, etc., etc. He successfully conveys this massive amount of information with a mildly comedic delivery ... George W. Bush, Jr. becomes 'King George the II' and Al Gore 'Prince Albert', Newsweek magazine 'News Speak', overbearing corporate dominance 'corporate feudalism', genetically altered food 'Frankenfood', etc. The recurring message throughout is for you to actually care and do something about it - become the media through pirate radio and tv, 'zines, online and offline activism and protest and simply communicating to those "on our side who don't yet know it". Jello makes you think about important issues that effect everyone, regardless of whether you agree with him or not. And though the 'truth' is an ever elusive impossibility, I tend to think his well informed version is closer to reality than most 'traditional' media. Four full length mp3s are freely available at alternativetentacles.com. Biafra is currently doing a few shows in Canada .Read More
- Carl Thien with Jon Whitney
- Albums and Singles
What else would you expect from a group called Lemon Jelly - in a few words: it's mellow, kinda fruity, bright and tasty. The CD on the chopping block is a collection of tunes from three previously released 10" singles from a duo who consists of Fred Deaklin and Nick Franlen (both graphic designers by trade). Fred's got some credit to his name as a unique DJ, as his 'Wheel of Destiny' club nights are set up to decide the musical style every 30 minutes with a spin of the wheel! Nick on the other hand has provided keyboards and drum programming for the Spice Girls and All Saints as well as Primal Scream's recent 'Xtrmntr' and a future slab from overrated Britpop wankers, Pulp. People have tagged Lemon Jelly as bringing renewed interest to "nu-lounge" sound. It's got a fondness of dub and an eye on cheery electronic interplay, not entirely unlike Kruder & Dorfmeister and associated side projects or Arling & Cameron. Yeah, these groups always come in the form of duos! Guitar samples, horn stems, organ-imitating keyboards, and rhythmic percussives are all elemental to each song which could easily provide a backdrop to doing your taxes on a Sunday afternoon. Read More
- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles
Tristan Bechet of Portugal and Sebastien Brault of Madagascar formed Flux Information Sciences in NYC in 1996 and with the aid of a revolving door membership have released 4 full length albums to date, "Private / Public" being their debut for producer Michael Gira's Young God Records. The duo abuse guitars, bass, keyboards and samplers and are further augmented here by drummer Derek Etheridge. An explosive percussive onslaught drives most of the songs, many 2 minutes or less, with occasional breaks for sample blitz, menacing soundscapes and even some genuine tender moments. A delightfully bizarre fun house/show biz humor prevails as lyrics are generally simple repeated slogans yelled in English over and under the sonic fury. Imagine if you can something that borrows a bit from early SWANS, Suicide, Big Black, The Monks, Devo and James Chance ... it's simultaneously ugly, quirky, chaotic, energetic and fun with a thoroughly lo-fi DIY punk attitude. Some comments on a few of my favorites tracks: "Adaptech" dances like a mechanical monkey on crack. "Sit Down, Silly!" is the best Big Black song they never wrote. "Love" seems sincere with lovely organ and backwards guitar melodies, straightforward drums and the single word lyric, "love". I have a single word summary for all of "Public / Private": FUN! Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
The man known as Thighpaulsandra could very well be the definition of a modern musical mad scientist—pure genius with a maniacal manifestation of sound. His debut Eskaton full-length release (don't get all semantic on me, this isn't his first full-length nor first Eskaton release) comes as a double CD of all new material featuring contributions from members of Coil, Spiritualized and Julian Cope's band as well as his mum.
The set is incredible yet difficult to swallow at once, with over 2¼ hours of music which can be as non-sequitur within movements as it is between tracks. He has drawn blood from much of his influencors, with elements of modern classical, jazz, art-rock and electronic composers swirled into a magickal mystical audio tapestry. The styles range from lengthy neo-classical half-hour tracks like each disc's closers to angst-filled songs echoing prog-rock masters such as "The Angelica Declaration" or "Home Butt Club." Deep drones provide background for the 13-minute "Optical Black" which features a spoken John Balance bit, sped up without a pitch increase while an intense improvisational-ish piece "Abuse Foundation IV" for clarinet, marimba, violin, percussion and processed electronics follows. Coil fans will definitely hear the characteristics of recent releases shining through electronic drones or glistening piano bits, yet they might be a bit offset by the general underlying free-form aesthetic, loss of congruency, or the creepy uneasiness which has caused panic attacks in one Coil fan from Los Angeles. Don't fear, however, it makes this disc an entirely different adventure from the more frequently travelled roads in the dark series and will prove to be a substantial release once it's completely digested and becomes part of your system.
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