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It's simply amazing to me some bands can be solely instrumental — which, to a certain extent, limits them — but still sound original, and capture a beauty that few bands, instrumental or otherwise, can even approach. Pullman's last release, "Turnstiles and Junkpiles," was a beautiful pass at acoustic guitar arrangements for this quartet, with no other instrumentation like percussion or keyboards present. The songs were stunning in their beauty and collaboration: a real triumph for these four musicians from such diverse backgrounds. This time around, Tim Barnes joins the core group of Doug McCombs, Bundy K. Brown, Chris Brokaw, and Curtis Harvey, which means there are drums on a lot of tracks, and a general nod towards more atmospheric explorations.
Whereas on "Turnstiles" the band stayed acoustic throughout the release, this time around the band enters the electric territory, but the sound won't jar you as you might think, especially if you loved "Turnstiles." No, it entirely serves this band's unique sound, allowing them to grow on this release exponentially. I liked "Turnstiles" and found it incredibly satisfying. "Viewfinder" utterly destroyed and moved me the first time I heard it, due to its immense beauty and originality. Barnes is a welcome addition, building the sound to such crescendos it's hard to imagine the band without him. And the use of electric instruments means that there's oh so much more this band can do to make their songs different in structure and feel. Pullman are certainly more than their collective influences, which show through from time to time, and "Viewfinder" is an epic release. Buy the album and see them on tour this September.
 
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Niko's overall approach reminds me of electro pioneer Frank Tovey (FadGadget) in the way he uses his gear for maximum effort without gettinglost in technical questions. His sampling attitude, especially on theopening track "Teeth Of Eris," brings Broad Broadcasting Bureau in mindand the more or less analog sounding drones on "Limbo In C Major" andthe nearly 12 minute "Flooding Aura" the likes of Steve Roach. But NikoSkorpio (featuring the Mad Jackal Orchestra) has a sound of his own anda caring hand for details; the artwork is well done, avoiding expensiveefforts and proving there might be a way to use CD-Rs for independentproductions without going cheap.
Not an desperate attempt for uniqueness, but an original one well worth trying
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- available at http://nikoskorpio.net/chambermoosick
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- UK Girls (Physical)
- Human (Calexico recording)
- Utopia (Daniel Miller remix)
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The most noticable musical difference is about four seconds missingfrom the opening chopped up sampling bit, but those sounds do getrepeated over a few cycles however,... Enough of the nitpicking!
The recordings contained were completed in 1990, pulled from over twoyears of studio work, which is quite noticable. Back then, electronicmusicians didn't have anywhere near as much software, Coil had to domuch of this by hand. This is observed right from the opening secondswhere a cut-up mishmosh of samples were tossed into a bucket and tapedback together. Over the course of an hour, the group pummels thelistener with whacked-out stereo separation, mind-bending low-endfrequencies and ghostly voices which move in three dimensions aroundthe room -without- the aid of a 5-point surround system! It'sgenre-defying, electronic based with dabbles of jazz, techno, withflamenco guitars and orchestral arrangements. Guests on this recordinclude vocal contributions from Little Annie Anxiety Bandez, MarcAlmond and Rose McDowell, as well as Charles Hayward on drums, and MikeMcEvoy's trippy 'ecstatic keyboards' on "The Snow". While songs like"Windowpane" and "Love's Secret Domain" are instantaneously catchyfavorites, tracks like "Further Back and Faster" are so amazingly aheadof their time in terms of sound and structure. The multiple layers,samples and sections must have taken many late nights in the studio,the result is a mindfuck which has taken many listens to truly get.People accuse this record of being a techno record, but in actuality,"The Snow" is really the only fast-paced techno dancefloor anthem, andnot a bad one indeed with incredible playing, sampling and subliminalvocal manipulations. The record is multi-climactic, and builds a coupletimes before the end, with the calm and disturbing "Titan Arch"featuring Marc Almond's guest vocals over a chilly throb, "Chaostrophy"where an orchestra fights for center stage with a barrage of whitenoise, the explosive flamenco guitars of "Lorca Not Orca" into thefinale, the title track, snaking lines from William Blake and RoyOrbison.
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The music is not a far departure from our newest new-new wave ofelectronica. The beats are steady and consistent, the kick and bassdeep and rattling, without disorienting breaks or expectedjunglist-tweaked cymbals. The vocals are what really stand out here:male and female singers who are, without a doubt, singing. No radiostatic effects, no drone. It's like Section 25 or early Wake backed bythe women of ESG or 52nd Street. The sexual overtones are presentthroughout, more or less suggestive with the use of heavy breathing andwhispered vocals that become part of the orchestra and dragged out withthe constant use of vocoders. On the track, "Invisible", deep inhalingand exhaling open the song, rattling speakers as if he'sblowing in your ear. The last exhale is dragged out deep into the mixas the beat kicks in, returning later as the end trails of verses, likea Jesus and Mary Chain wash. The track reaches a pregnant pause halfway through, teasing with a kick in time before returning at half thespeed, with deep and breathy vocals. The effect is like continuing tofuck after stopping to catch your breath.
Another great track is their first single, "Emerge", which is available for download from their website: www.fischerspooner.com."Emerge" would probably more closely document their style and be aproper comparison to the remainder of the albums contents (save the sadand looming "Tone Poem" and the cover of Wire's "The 15th") and couldsafely be the bands statement of purpose: "sounds good, looks good,feels good too".(Emerge was remixed by Adult, and is available on the "Emerge Remixed"12" also on Gigolo.)
Their live performance has been described as rather over the top —morea rock opera and less a static "stand behind the equipment" electronicshow. Check the site for more info. Different and addictive, nostalgicand new, Fischerspooner is highly recommended.
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On the black disc, Francisco Lopez latterly takes things to minimalextremes with such low level white noise splinters and burnt out coldsilhouette drones they're almost beyond perception. It starts out witha low level rumble like a busy motorway polluting the air in thedistance. Suddenly the cars are driving right under the floorboards andsmoke comes rising through the cracks! Soon the room is choking. Lopezseems more content to let the same pitches drone away for much longerthan on the comparatively teeming Karkowski piece, minutely dabbingmore and more black into the sound picture. Your mum's vacuum cleanernever sounded so good! Around twelve minutes in there's an abrupt cutoff and the listener is dropped into Lopez' realm of microscopic soundshadows that redefine the word 'ambient' (could it be 'nonbient'?) andhave the ears straining as babies howl, birds twitter and motors rumbleoutside. Six minutes later, gas leak hisses begin and careless matchesare struck and blowtorches scorch the walls, then march rhythmicallyout the door and into the city, razing everything in their path. Theyfiddled with computers whilst the world burnt.
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