- Brian Conniffe
- Albums and Singles
This is a fantastic album; mature andconfident in its' experimentation and the furthest and most completedevelopment of the Nurse 'sound'. Each richly evocative and colourfulpiece of music is framed and divided by the brief tinkling of a piano;juxtapositions similar in sense to those that constructed "SpiralInsana". Now however, this collaging of sounds is less obvious andobtrusive, the result being that each song is satisfying when listenedto either individually or collectively.The overall sound is far warmer and inviting than the bleak meditationon desolation that was "Acts of Senseless Beauty". The quieter songs-such as "Two from Half's be Cracked" and "Peak of Purified Dream"- havea deeply hallucinogenic quality, inviting the listener to mentallyimpose sounds and patterns of their own construction on to the piece.The listener switches from passive to active listening to becomefurther immersed in the experience, only to be plunged into thestartling kraut-funk paradise of "Sunset Belly Mother".
The most immediate and accessible song is "Mary Jane", which evokes theheavy, slow swirl and sway of a hashish trip, and the descent intoquiet absurdity that lies at the heart of it. Indeed, Aranos brings avivid sensuality to Nurse's surreal visions, exemplified in "GenerallyRegarded as Safe" whose mechanised and serpentine caress, submerged ina sea of wooden chips, remains remarkably tactile, whilst still evokingthe compelling claustrophobia of a David Lynch film. Elsewhere, on"Dusty Bella", Aranos' violin lurches like a drunken superheroalongside his extraordinary vocals. A real treat.
samples:
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The project began in 1987 inWilson's home studio and by 1993 had expanded into the 4 piece band itis today. "Lightbulb Sun" picks up right where last year's "StupidDream" left off with ten more psychedelic and progressive influencedpop / rock songs. Porcupine Tree's sound is lushly textured, pretty andradio friendly, yet it's much better than most anything you actuallyhear on the radio. Wilson alone plays acoustic and electric guitars,piano, hammered dulcimer, mellotron, banjo, harp, percussion andsamples while the rest of the band fills in with synths, organ, bass,backing vocals and drums, as well as some string arrangements courtesyof Dave Gregory of XTC. The album is very well produced (by Wilson) anddynamic as it flows through gentle ballads, Floydian soundscapes andfull on rock, all with infectious hooks and melodies and a strong'sing-a-long' quality. Wilson's light, lilting voice sings some aboutchildhood and the music business, but wayward love is the dominanttopic. There aren't any particular parts of the music or individualsongs that really stand out, it all works best taken as a whole. It'sbecoming very addictive. My only complaint is the final song "Feel SoLow" seems like an incredibly depressing way to end the album. Theartwork is fantastic with a photo of a young boy holding a blazinglightbulb and the inside of the insert is also well done with fullcolor photos and all the lyrics. Porcupine Tree will be opening forDream Theater in October and the third and final single from this albumfor "The Rest Will Flow" is due out later this year ...samples:
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- Albums and Singles
The orchestasounds great, every instrument lives beautifully through the music butthe song progressions are dull, drab and predictable. Tenor basicallyhas pulled out every old cliche for this disc which becomesincreasingly unbearable to listen to as it progresses. Pehraps theelectronica elite need to stop trying to write scores for blackgangster 70s movies. With records like this, the movement sounds bothtired and old, since this comes after other records going for the sameeffect (but succeeding like Nightmares on Wax). Save your cash forsomebody who deserves it.samples:
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- Albums and Singles
"Cords. Wires" seems to be a concept album though it's beendifficult for me to fully grasp the concept. I think it's set in thefuture with the 'President of the World' calling upon all citizens tosave the human race as the Devil later declares "give me worlddomination by five o'clock tea". Very humorous, especially when youhear the bizarre combination of vocals and narrative from the variouscharacters (some human, some machine) and musical potpourri. The'spectacular rock orchestra' of Bogus Blimp includes guitar, bass,organ, piano, electronics, samples, singing saw and drums. The musicranges from dark and brooding evil to quiet and subdued introspectionthrough light to heavy jazz rock and industrial and ambientsoundscapes, all with a cinematic flair and a campy sense of blackhumor throughout. The 8 minute mini-epic "Flight to the Future" buildsfrom solo piano into a frenzied wall of rock sound with the mantra of"flight to the future, to the world of plastics" followed by the quietpiano and singing saw of "Things to Come" to bring the album to atranquil close. I'm not quite sure what the literal conclusion of thestory is but that doesn't make "Cords. Wires" any less of a very uniqueand interesting listening experience. It's a lot of fun ...samples:
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"Attitude" is a 3 inch CD which features 606,V/Vm, Hrvatski, Lesser, Matmos, Cex, Pimmon, Christoph de Babalon andmany others. Loud and fun, irresponsible and entertaining, blast thisat your next barbecue just to piss off and confuse all the neighbors.samples:
- Kid 606 - Attitude
- V/Vm - Straight Outta Edgeley
- Lesser - Fatgirl On My Jock
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The world can rejoicenow that the Soccergirl EP is out through Carpark (Canada). This EPexplores more of the minimalistic tendencies of Kid 606 rather than thepunchy and beefy stuff characterized by many of his full-lengthreleases. Judging from the titles I think this CD is Kid's attempt at acollection of love songs. It is dedicated to the mysterious Jessica andincludes titles like "If My Heart Ever Ran Away It Would Be Looking forthe Day When Right Beside You It Could Forever Stay," but sadly enoughends with the track titled, "Over." Maybe Jessica was left behind whenKid made the move to San Francisco. Regardless, if you're looking forthe drum and bass hardcore to the floor, stay away from the Soccergirl,but if you're into chirping and chiming, pulsing pretty loopingmelodies then this disc might be for you.samples:
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Perhaps because it's as such since Play theSpaces is void of the bells and whistles of remixes and post-productionindie hero guests. Regardless, it's a great disc of simple and quietguitar melodies. At 34 minutes, I am however longing for some more.Perhaps it would have been more complete (for me at least) to have someof the neat primitive electronics and almost mis-directioned varietyfrom last year's album.samples:
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Both songs wererecorded at the Low studio in Duluth, MN and both are dedicated to eachof their new baby daughters. Wyatt's number, "Pondcup" is the openerfor his second full-lengther, 'Play the Spaces' (see below) and is forMaia K. Wyatt while Sparhawk's "Sleep Song" is for Hollis Mae Sparhawk.samples:
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This4-track 17 minute EP is probably the most quiet thing Spring Heel Jackhave ever touched. It's even quieter than most Low albums on the whole.Beat-less yet not without a pulse, Spring Heel Jack incorporate theirfascinaction with imitation orchestral works while Alan and Mimi bringto the table lyrics inspired by (clearly in the case of "Hand SoSmall") the arrival of their daughter into the world. To me, thecollaboration sounds more like a Low EP with the guitar, bass and drumsremoved, leaving only the vocals, keyboard instruments and effects.While the first listening didn't grab me as does most of the music (oneither group's part), over a few times it really has grown on me.Collect this together with The Exit Papers and the Pan American trackand you've got a great album's worth of new Low tracks!samples:
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The duo and friends were part of the Invisible Records "Lowestof the Low" North American tour in 1998. The live set I saw seemed tobe heavily improvised and experimental jams but this cd is a variety of3-5 minute electro-organic pop songs. Gry's vocals (most in English)remind me a great deal of Canadian alterna-pop songstress Esthero, onlywith a Danish flavor. Einheit handles programming, piano and synths,'beat' and various effects. A full band line-up is assembled for eachtrack from the impressive guest list: Alexander Hacke (also ofNeubauten) and his wife Meret Becker, Pan Sonic, Funkstörung, Zaki 'thehuman beatbox' Hyrland, Chrislo Haas (DAF), DJ Fetisch of Terranova andseveral others. The music is somewhat surprising as it's pretty mellow,unobtrusive and radio friendly ... pleasant enough but at least half ofthe songs don't leave much of a lasting impression. Four in particulardo. "Rocket" features bombastic horn and percussion arrangements and avery amusing Cab Calloway styled call and response chorus. "PrincessCrocodile" is irresistibly fun with a ragtime sample loop accentuatedwith drum 'n bass fills. Lee Hazlewood's "Summer Wine" (as popularizedby Nancy Sinatra) is covered well with Gry and Alexander Hacke tradingoff vocals. "Ghost" is slow and sexy, much like Portishead, withbrushed snare, singing saw, cello, beat box and nasally vocals. "PublicRecording" suffers from a mismatch of creative and interesting tracksversus bland and forgetful ones. It's just too tempting to skip around...samples:
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Add a third architect to take thematerials and construct his own version, but this time adds his ownsignature style to it. Thankfully in this case, each building is fun tolook at and enjoy. "Mystery Brethren Vironment" with Takemura andTsuyuko bleeds of beautiful guitar wash and subtle female vocals a'laMy Bloody Valentine. Jim O'Rourke's take on "Mystery" is a sereneRoland 808-accented guitar, vibe and electronics interplay, which overten minutes builds into a wonderful wash of reverberated vocal samplesand white noise. A third version of "Mystery" is presented byTakemura's Child's View who uses echoes that trail the vocals andguitars from the first version while incorporating more glitchyelectronics (familiar to Takemura's own style) to create somethingalmost completely new. The other tracks on the CD include a mesmerizingdubby echo-reverberated organic instrumental 10+ minute jam-like piecewith Doug Scharin's Him along with a beautiful guitar, organ, vibe andpercussion bit with Curtis Harvey (Codeine/Pullman). "Collaborations"is the latest offering from Dylan Group front man and Bubble CoreRecords kingpin Adam Pierce. As a whole, this five-track collectionholds together amazingly well in comparison to similar long-players ofrelative artists - being half as long (just over 40 minutes) and hardlyas tiresome as those double-record remix collections with a group ofartists thrown together without much in common. For fans, this isalmost everything you would and wouldn't expect from Pierce - for thoseunfamiliar but interested, this is a great place to start.samples:
- Mystery Brethren Vironment (with Aki Tsuyuko and Nobukazu Takemura)
- Mystery Brethren Vironment (remixed by Jim O'Rourke)
- Mystery Brethren Vironment (remixed by Child's View)
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