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Martijn de Kleer, "So Close Yet So Far Out"
If he is mentioned at all, Martijn de Kleer is mentioned primarily for his job as twice lead guitarist and youngest member of The Legendary Pink Dots. Produced by LPD mainstay Raymond Steeg, and boasting guest appearances from drummer Cevin Key (Tear Garden, Skinny Puppy) and bassist Ryan Moore, So Close Yet So Far Out uses an impressive variety of approaches and instrumentation, by far outstripping any of the usual implications of a solo guitar album. In addition to playing some deliciously fried fuzz guitar, de Kleer also tackles bass, synthesizer, organ and some surprisingly passable vocals. What he accomplishes is a psych-rock long-player with shades of damaged 60's psychedelia, shoegazer pop, and a clear affection for the rich, textural space dementia of Hallway of the Gods-era LPD.Beta-Lactam Ring
It's no coincidence that "New" is the English equivalent of Neu!, as the song owes a debt to Rother and Dinger, a chugging organ-and-drum beat that form the perfect backdrop for de Kleer's fragile vocals and brain-sizzling guitar. "Delayed Chemistry" is propelled by de Kleer's lyric, a compact pop song boasting dense production and a ridiculously shredding guitar solo. It's a bit reminiscent of Bevis Frond's work, which is saying a lot. "Jet Lag" is a favorite, a heavy-as-shit anthemic blast of stoner metal, heavily phased and placed alongside the screaming engine of a jumbo jet. An actual White Mountain Apache storyteller narrates a mystical tale against a backdrop of de Kleer's mellow psych on "What Happened To A Young Man...," and the whole thing sounds a bit like a fantasy soundtrack to one of Jim Morrison's peyote trips. The cyclical lyrical refrain of "You Are..." is exploited to gradually lift the track into the stratosphere on an ectoplasmic crest of swirling guitar effects. "The Apple Crumble Trail" is a 25-minute meditational soundscape utilizing field recordings of Himalayan villagers, expanding into a masterpiece of slow-cooked rock splendor that gy!be and their ilk would be too cynical to produce.
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Greg Davis, Ben Vida (Bird Show), and Keith "Hrvatski" Whitman
Greg Davis, Ben Vida, and Keith Fullerton Whitman each have new albums on Kranky and are on the road, touring and playing together as a trio for the first time. While we settled on the name of this Eye segment as "Nightcrawlers," rejected titles included "Menage a' Beard," "Friends That Play Together Stay Together," and "Banjovi." Hopefully we can look forward to an amazing album from the three eventually.
