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No-Neck Blues Band, "Letters from the Earth"
Apparently recorded on a Canal Street rooftop in New York, this double disc set documents the No-Neck Blues Band's first ever Orthodox Easter concert in 1996, an event they've repeated every year since. The group's tribal rhythms and crackling electronics have little to do with the Savior, though, and more to do with the strange world they create on their own.
The first disc reveals the group's rattling, rusted electronic underbelly. "Montana Morning" sounds like a mechanic working on some of the instruments until a flute or a saxophone arises, accompanied by high-pitched pulses and muted drums. Supersonic beeping and feedback start "Isopropyl Ocean" with minute variations until a clattering cymbal propels the song forward. At over half an hour, this song doesn't come alive for me until the convulsions of the latter third or so. The last track on the first disc is mainly composed of a percussive drone and metallic percussion that could be a dead cymbal, underpinned by some blistering electronics that appear only too briefly and a saxophone that never really makes enough of a statement to make its influence felt.
If the first disc comes across as a warm-up session, the second disc finds the group firing on all cylinders. A hypnotic electronic pulse with subtle machine-like washes underneath begins "Cosmos," which after a few minutes is joined by a weird distorted line that elevates the song to a fantastic new level of otherworldliness until some disruptive static domineers the track until its close. "John the Baptist" is the rhythmic centerpiece of the second disc, if not the entire album. Starting with squeals and whistles, drums enter before long and provide a primitive rhythm that anchors the song, leaving screeches, various electronics, and static to enter and leave the mix as desired. The rhythmic changes are subtle but ultimately provide the most movement on which to focus attention. "Seven Spaces of Empty Place" sounds like a gurgling steamship about to sink, even ending with what could be an underwater S.O.S. bubbling to the surface.
At times the recording quality leaves a little to be desired, including occasional thumps against the microphone, and I wish that some of the noisier parts could have been balanced more evenly in the mix, especially on "John the Baptist," but overall such considerations didn't significantly affect my enjoyment of the songs. The album is a valuable document, and the second disc in particular is a stunning achievement.
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