cEvin Key "The Ghost of Each Room" Metropolis 217 2001 (51:07)
Bobs Shadow (4:59)
Tatayama (5:52)
Horopter
(6:01)
15th
Shade (3:42)
Sklang (3:10)
Frozen
Sky (3:52)
Aphasia (5:13)
Klora (3:32)
cccc4 (5:44)
A Certain Stuuckey (9:02)
Skinny Puppy/Download founding member cEvin Key (Kevin Crompton) returns with his 2nd solo outing for Metropolis Records. It seemed to me that much of the first one, 1998's "Music for Cats", was unfinished leftovers from other projects. This album may very well be the same but it also feels fully realized as a project unto its own. Key plays just about everything - electronics, drums, guitar, bass, etc. - and collaborates with many: Justin Bennett (guitar, Professional Murder Music), K. Tokoi (saxophone), Omar Torres and Kent Clelland of Native Instruments, Bill Van Rooy (bass), Phil Western (synths, Download/Plateau), Ken Marshall (electronics, Download), all of The Legendary Pink Dots and recently reunited Puppy compatriot Ogre, among others. The shadowy influence of Jamaica is cast over parts of the album, from the artwork to the electro dub strains, most notably in the ganja haze groove of "Horopter", to the radio banter in "Klora". Saxophone riffs add an unexpectedly welcome flair to "Tatayama". "15th Shade" and "A Certain Stuuckey" are likely a precursor of things to come from the Tear Garden (Key + LPD). Both feature Edward Ka-Spel's calm and collected, detailed spoken story telling, the former over an addictive bass line and guitar meandering and the latter over a fragmented soup of bass, synth and beats. "Frozen Sky" gives one SP flashbacks - pretty synth sequences, "Process"-era heavy duty guitar chords, vocoded vocals - and, again, is probably a precursor of future work. The remaining tracks are mostly jittery electronic jams of the recent Download/Plateau mindset. The more Key works with a variety of others, the more varied and interesting the results ...
Subconscious
Communications
Litany
Metropolis
Records
Where did I get this cd? - mail order via CD Universe.