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On 'Kicker in Tow,' Hangedup explore territory stylistically similar to their excellent self-titled debut, but the viola and percussion duo is even more finely tuned and powerfully compelling this time, making this a wonderful album. They play repetitive but lively rock music with clear minimalism and folk influences, and the nine songs on this record are a blend of well-executed improvised and composed pieces.Constellation
The opening track "Kinetic Work" is an incredibly catchy song that's mobilized by Eric Craven's rather unique "locomotive" drumming style and Genevieve Heistek's kinetic, stacatto viola playing. Though the instrumentation remains pretty constant throughout the album, it never grows tiresome as the duo push their instruments to the limit. On improvised tracks like "Sink" they work well together; the viola doesn't lose sight of its beautiful melodic progression while interacting with the borderline free drumming. There are a few shorter, more abstract, improvisations that explore ringing mechanical tones; the engine/machine metaphor that appears throughout the titles and packaging is an apt description of the band's sound and style. "No More Bad Future" is an epic standout track; it starts with some quiet viola and metal scraping and then builds as various percussive elements enter, eventually forming into an infectous melody. Then it quiets down, leaving just some ringing percussion, but soon the full instrumentation returns and the song gets even louder and livelier as it barrels on. 'Kicker in Tow' is hypnotic but invigorating, and it looks like it'll be one of my favorite rock albums of the year.
 
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After releasing three singles on SharkAttack! and providing very little information about themselves, Charlene release their eponymous debut full-length. While the singles were simple, sparse, and often brief, these recordings feature a denser sound, with more instruments and a clear evolution in production.
 
These songs also feature a burbling energy, kept just beneath the surface, that often breaks through and shows itself off. On the first track, "Ripoff," Charlene seem to be on a crusade to change perceptions and preconceptions about their previous output, as they groove their way through a fairly uptempo shuffle with competance.
Here is a Charlene that is neither spacey nor droney. The vocals are still a bit drowned in the mix, but Charlene seem more confident this time around, and the harmonies on several tracks are gorgeous, as always. Electronic instruments flourish throughout the entire album, which add a sincerity and depth that was hinted at before but never quite achieved. Charlene have come a long way from their early recordings to this fine display. There are longer tracks here, as well, that blister and crack as well as introduce a playful side to the band with xylophones and coquettish lyrics that name check Mazzy Star. The untitled fifth track is noise rock beauty, charming throughout until it buzzes away. Ultimately, Charlene prove all over this release that they are making brave, vital, original music that few can touch or even approach. Their grasp of melody is uncanny, their growth to this point apparent, and their success imminent.
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Remix participants were all invited by ITN, themselves. Most of the artists are of a younger generation (Flesh Field, Assemblage 23, Ivan Lusco, Haujobb, Seize, Faith & The Muse, Chandeen, Steve Bennet, Electronicum, and A_Robot) while only two are fellow contemporaries (And Also The Trees and Attrition). These aren't very obvious choices at first glance but all of them treated the original songs in a very careful and respectful manner. The beats are most obviously reworked in almost all cases. Flesh Field's Ian Ross lays a driving beat under "A Rebours (Against Nature)" as does Ivan Lusco on "El Secreto (It)," while Assemblage 23 get a bit housey. Justin Jones from AATT replaces haunting electronic sequences with his own trademark guitar style on "Corruption (Sister And Brother)." A_Robot and Faith & The Muse add their own voices to their contributions but keep conservatively close to the original In The Nursery style. Attrition's pick of the secret hymn, "To The Faithful," is characteristic for their dramatic style and with their version, "To The Faithful (In Remembrance)," they nearly take the greatest side-step from remix to re-interpretation, only outmatched by the final drum and bass dancefloor mix of "Caprice (Levity)" by Seize.
Nearly all of the tracks (with only one exception, "And Your Eyes") were selected from recent albums, from 1990's 'L'Esprit' through last years 'Engel,' thus excluding their 1980s work. As bonus, however (and maybe a reference to their own starting point), ITN include their interpretation of "Love Will Tear Us Apart," produced with a similar aesthetic as the rest of the disc's remixes and featuring a live drummer and professional oboe player.
The fact that 'Cause + Effect' can stand up to the beautiful standards of nearly all ITN output makes this remix project a great success.
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Right off the bat I want to get something off my chest: had I not been familiar with Whitman's work as Hrvatski nor trusting of the label Kranky, I would have been completely thrown off by the clinicization of music by the words "laptop," "ring modulators," "granular re-synthesis algorithms," "drone," "academic," and (especially) "Terry Riley" in the description on the web site. Seeing something like this is almost remeniscent of the magic of fucking nearly ruined by the overexplaination by a creepy teacher in a high school sex ed class. That said, the music on KFW's debut is alarmingly attention-commanding for a beat-less, lyric-free excursion.
Most strikingly, there is a beautiful sense of room-filling warmth on every one of the disc's five tracks, and thankfully Whitman is careful enough not to oversaturate each composition with sounds. Unlike a number of drone records, this disc is filled with songs which are just long enough to make their point clear and short enough to keep the record interesting as a whole. Even in the pulse-less opener, "Track3a," the music is set in motion much like the conflict of a film—with an enjoyable scenery background to a conflict which needs to be resolved. Thankfully the resolution comes in only a few minutes and the payoff is well worth the wait. "Feedback Zwei," on the other hand is set in motion by a steady pulse of an ear-tickling rhythm. Both that and "ACGTR SVP" build to noisy climaxes and quell, the latter piece much like the buzz of a heat bug in a sweltering late August day. "Modena" serves as a fantastic closer, as it is clearly remeniscent of Whitman's fantastic CD EP released last year, '21:30 for Acoustic Guitar,' almost completing the chapter in Whitman's output on guitar exploitation. Whether it's complete is yet to be seen, but if the Piano Concerto from 'Brain in the Wire' is any indication of what's next to come, I'll undoubtedly be listening.
 
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In a word, this quartet's second album is simply "unavoidable," in that the minute the bombastic hippie rock sounds in, all other ambient sounds are eclipsed. It's due to the combination of fuzzy guitar, over-distorted vocals, a messy wash of cheap effects and quiet breaks much like the rustling of wind chimes and dangling outdoor objects in Kansas as the sky grows from blue to black, moments before the tornado rears its ugly head and destroys every trailer in sight. Picture Animal from The Muppets going berzerk on the drums as a crazed LSD-freak screams and can't stop wiggling the whammy bar. Occasional guitar shredding can probably be partially blamed on producer Tim Green, who makes ironic 80s retro-metal with the Fucking Champs. The most charming aspect is probably in its brutal live feel. At moments like the second song, "Return to Heaven," this album could easily be mistaken for a live MC5 session sans singer Rob Tyner. Grab some cheap beer, phone some friends and bring your earplugs, playing this album on a Tuesday night (with the volume on 11) is a great substitution for a lack of killer rock shows in your dull town.
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