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This album celebrates EN's 20th year of operation with a marked improvement in production values. The focused and streamlined sound finds equal space for pulsing, naked bass guitar, trimmed-down sound effects, low-end percussion, and strings. Not least of all, the punchy production brings EN's often-personal lyrics and intense delivery to the forefront--to double-edged effect.
The pregnant pause on the title track makes for very, very uneasy listening, but the chanting at the end is downright pathetic. On the whole, though, "Silence is Sexy" is as its title suggests--a very quiet release with sporadic outbursts of violent noise. "Zampono" is one of my favorite selections, sounding as though EN just shanghaied the Blue Man Group into banging on hollow plastic pipes. I can almost see the BMG bouncing about. One of my beefs, however, is that there's a bit too much repetition on many of these songs. Again, it's a technique that has its pluses and minuses. Fragments such as "I wish this would be your color . . ." haunt your head long after the CD leaves the player, but the approach just as often recalls last year's obnoxious "all I really really really really really really really really want to see is a total eclipse of the sun" refrain. Another personal peeve is the German vs. English issue. After experiencing his attempts at the latter, I most certainly prefer to hear Blixa singing in German. Maybe something was lost in the translation. And, (un?)fortunately, his version of "Pretty Fly for a White Guy" didn't make it onto the album.
The UK edition of Silence is out right now, presented in a deluxe package with a second CD featuring 18 minutes of bonus material. Unsurprisingly enough, this amounts to a very repetitious song that stubbornly refuses to end. But it's truly noisier than the rest of the record, and I can recommend grabbing this edition (while you still can) if repetitious noise is your bag. A US ediition will be released sometime in May (I believe) but without the bonus disc. Should EN tour for this release, don't miss it. Live EN dwarfs any of the group's recent albums.
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- Carter Adams
- Albums and Singles
![](http://brainwashed.combrain/images/domakegoodbye.jpg)
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- Carter Adams
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![](http://brainwashed.combrain/images/asilvermtzion.jpg)
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The world can never have too many bands who sound like they really love Spacemen 3. This Boston three piece is a band to keep an eye out for. A couple weeks ago I reviewed their set I caught, which caught me off-guard. The band have magically formulated a beautiful sound on recording in addition to the wonderful live set.
Castle Von Buhler
Recently released is this 7" single (their first in a series of four planned for this year). Both songs are dreamy and echo of Spiritualized and Spacemen influences. The production is professional enough to hear all instruments perfectly yet scratchy enough to have a heavy soul. Boy does that plucked bass guitar sound nice. Now available on the Boston-based label, Castle Von Buhler, get it now before the band gets signed, releases 3 albums and then splits only to be honored more in their death.
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- Robert Devlin
- Albums and Singles
![](http://brainwashed.combrain/images/forcarnation.jpg)
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- Jessica Tibbits
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/broadcastnoise.jpg)
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- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/dirty3whatever.jpg)
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![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/vibertcole.jpg)
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![](http://www.brainwashed.com/coil/images/covers/somehead.gif)
Stunningly beautiful choral samples on "Tudor Fruits" aren't far from the similar choral samples heard on "The Sea Priestess" from Astral Disaster. I wish I could figure out what the items listed in "Tudor Fruits" had in common during the spoken sections. Keep in mind, however, this is not a Coil record, despite the guest vocals from John Balance. While it is does move and meld, it lacks a certain continuity apparent on nearly all Coil releases. This should also be available through many of the recommended brainwashed stores so save your bidding money.
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- Jason Olariu
- Albums and Singles
On this double Cd, those two long out-of-print albumsappear in their entirety, along with a previously unreleased thirdalbum (all self-titled, by the way). Taking inspiration from folk,rock, and the more oddball indie rock that was happening at the time(The Meat Puppets and Minutemen, for example), The Donner Party craftedcatchy indie rock. Sometimes humorous and playful ("Would You Like ToHave Something To Eat?"), occasionally frightening, such as on theschizophrenic ramblings of "Chocolate Shake." Showing their progressionfrom Husker Du-inspired edgy punk-pop of early Donner Party, to themore experimental leanings of their later stuff, this compilation is agreat showcase to an often over-looked band. Tracks such as "Notker TheStammerer", clearly the blueprint bands such as Soul Asylum and Swellfollowed, rock hard without devolving into childishness plagued by someof their material. Maybe it's that divide, between Dead Milkman-likeimmaturity and honest punk-pop tunes with loads of hooks, that made TheDonner Party not get the attention they deserved (a lot of people,critics especially, like their music straightforward, with nosurprises). Let's hope with the re-release of this old material,history will be corrected.
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- Rainer Padamsee
- Albums and Singles
Current 93's effort is entitled "Immortal Bird" and is evidently fromthe forthcoming album "Sleep Has His House". There is an immediatechange of atmosphere, as dark synths and Cashmore's instrumentationgive an ambience not dissimilar to the Island material, albeit a littleless electronic and well integrated with quietly strummed guitars. Thevocals open shortly after with "What drives us on? What drives us on?".Tibet then launches to a tragic and poignant verse, neither sung norspoken, in much the way that he employed his melancholic vocals on SoftBlack Stars.
The song is reminiscent of "Moonlight or Other Fields..." in that bothhave a short spoken-sung section culminating in a final line ofhalf-rhyme "and the gun, and the glory that was to come" (Moonlight...)/ "Your eyes wide, and shot through; With Sea blue" (Immortal Bird).
The lyrical section lasts only for the first two and a half minutes ofthe song, whereafter the melody plays on, gradually and subtly soundingmore enforced and more desperate. Initially I was a little disappointedthat the last four minutes of the song are all instrumental, but onrepeated listening I find this works very well; we are all left hangingto Tibet's last line while the music drags us along and away.
The holistic effect is very depressing, much more so than the track byAntony and the Johnsons. As with Soft Black Stars, the lyrics soundautobiographical ("I was nothing for you but the shadow of anotherlove" ) and at the same time surreal ("shift your skies to pasturesblue, streaked with passing and loss/ Moonlight sweeping over Northernbeaches where the trees are stripped silhouettes of memories") andmetaphor-laden ("in your vault of skin").
It is, in his own words, the sound of his own "particular fall". Andyet nevertheless David Tibet once again manages to evoke emotions,moods and meanings which are universal.
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