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3eem, "Essence of 3eem"
This Italian three-piece combines electronic beats and sampling with some beautifully menacing guitar and saxophone in a very pleasing way. They are not breaking down barriers but they are certainly no chore to listen to. The six pieces included here all work around the same mid-paced jamming style, the same patch of ground being covered but from alternative angles and viewpoints.
Small Voices
Listening to this album I found myself thinking of Coil’s work, especially in the beat department. While 3eem do not reach the perfection of that group, they make a fair stab at an album and put their own identity on the music. The rhythms are infectious, especially on the opener "Reverse." where the guitars and glitchy beats work together to drive the piece on while the saxophone swoops around them. Danilo Corgnati's guitar definitely lifts Essence of 3eem up from being a throwaway beats and brass album, his tasteful playing provides a wonderful melodic backbone for the music featured here.
Corgnati uses a nice bit of wah on his guitar during "In the Beginning it was an Accordion," which is pleasingly not totally masturbatory. The only thing that slightly irked me was the long final piece, "24 Apes." It takes up over a third of the album but could be a lot shorter; some of the parts that make it up do not quite work as well as others and the flow of the piece is disrupted.
Essence of 3eem sits together nicely; the different pieces all seem to fit together like a soundtrack (but not in that clichéd epic sense of soundtrack that gets thrown around all too often). They demonstrate some adventurous use of sounds with some unusual use of the saxophone. At least it sounds like the saxophone, it may be electronics, either way it sounds good. There is not a bad piece on Essence of 3eem. It is very easy to listen to and get lost in. Granted there is nothing groundbreaking either but it is a solid album rich in high quality music.
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