Ulan Bator "Ego : Echo" Young God Records YG12 2000 (64:20)
Hemisphere
(8:42)
Santa Lucia (6:14)
Etoile Astre (4:32)
Let
Go Ego (16:10)
Hiver (3:57)
Selva (1:40)
La Joueuse De Tambour (6:34)
Soeur
Violence (6:25)
Echo (10:06)
Ulan Bator is a French avante art rock trio who apparently take their name from the capitol of Mongolia. "Ego : Echo" is their third album and it was for the most part spontaneously created during 3 weeks of sessions last summer in Florence, Italy with producer and Young God Records head Michael Gira (SWANS, The Angels of Light). Ulan are all about tight and minimal, tense and repetitive guitar/bass/drum rock grooves - both noisy and subdued - as musical and (French) vocal passages become hypnotic head noddin' mantras. Add organ, piano, bow, keys, horn, tape loops, electronic drone, 'la la la' styled backing vocals and Gira's dry, crisp, clean and full production. Comparisons to Can, Faust (Jean Herve Peron contributes horns to 1 song), the Bad Seeds, Pan Sonic and Gira's own projects is inevitable as everything is sparse yet beautifully melodic and the sound and feel is similar, at the very least, in spirit. The 16 minute centerpiece "Let Go Ego" in particular provides the variety of most everything Ulan Bator do in one song with extensive stretches of drone, somnambulant sonic meandering, heavy rock out and lengthy coda chant. "Ego : Echo" is a dynamic rock record that resonates with passion and a sense of straightforward urgency. It's one of a handful of cool musical things lately from France and it fits right in with the rest of the Young God catalog. Up next from YGR are albums by Calla and Flux Information Sciences in January and the new Angels of Light album "How I Loved You" in February ...
Where did I get this cd? - mail order via Forced Exposure.