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When was the last time you got a CD and went screaming to your friends,calling them and playing stuff through the phone receiver, emailing allyour pals on [insert band name here] emailing list saying "OH MY GODYOU HAVE TO FUCKING HEAR THIS!!!!" Was it with 'Confield'? No. Was itwith 'Kid A'? No! Maybe the last time was a few months ago when you"discovered" another Icelandic group (who ironically was raved abouthere on THE BRAIN months before The Wire, Rolling Stone or Spin; monthsbefore the Fat Cat UK release and over a year before the MCA US releasebut you didn't pay attention or listen to the sound samples then). TheIcelandic Múm have just released an almost completely instrumentalalbum — whose cuts always trigger numerous phone calls whenever playedon my piddly-shit radio show here in Boston. The question is always,"who the hell is this amazing music from??!!" Why do I find these guysso special? It's not what they do, it's how they do it. The grouphasn't broken any grounds with breakbeats, electronica, clicking orlaptop fuckery. They have found a way to make it simply fuckingbrilliant and I can't stop talking about this disc. While I hate makingcomparisons to other groups, try to picture if Autechre could write amelody. Imagine if Heaven existed and angels were experimentding withelectornic music. Imagine lying in the soft grass on a summery morning,fresh with glistening dew drops sparkling, and the tunes of thousandsof hand-wound music boxes playing in harmony. This is only thebeginning. Beefy breaks and low humming basslines are added but neveroverbearing or upsetting the gentle balance. Sure I can buy a thesaurusand have it sitting next to the computer for whenever I write reviewsand come up with other words for stunning, gorgeous, magnificent,clever, thoughful, ingenious, delicate, beautiful or compelling but I'drather you sit back and listen to the samples and let the sound speakfor itself.
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As a taster cum sampler for the current Touch UK tour featuring thesethree audio explorers in cahoots with three different visual artists,this works up an appetite. It's just a shame it's missing Manchester bysuch a distance as the Fennesz track here is particularlymouthwatering. The Viennese maestro has surpassed himself again. Wherehis previous excursions into sampled guitar noise sculpting have maybehad precursors in the shape of Bruce Gilbert's seismic groundshifter'Ab Ovo', the overloaded sensory bombardment of prime My BloodyValentine and the digital lock skips of Oval, Christian Fennesz iscertainly carving out a distinctive niche. This track his perhaps hismost evocative evolution to date and is subtley emotive in a candlelitmemory haze reminiscent atmospherically of Labradford's 'Mi MediaNaranja' peak, but as if the whole album had sped by in a heat hazedfive minute blur. Hazard specialises in bleak ambient drones with snowyclose miked rumbles suggestive of vast deserted frozen expanses.Biosphere seems quite ordinary and inorganic in comparsion, presentingtwo remixes of precise clinical beat politeness underpinning sampledspeech. The cover is another nice bit of Touch co-conspiritor JonWozencroft's conceptual photography. Three images of trees at differentangles and diurnal illumination make apt visual accompaniments for thethree sonic experimenters.
samples:
- Hazard - Meteosat
- Fennesz - C-Street
- Biosphere - When I Leave (Finely Tuned Version)
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Like-minded minimalists Ryoji Ikeda and Carsten Nicolai first performedtogether in 1999 as part of the Raster Noton 'New Forms' series. In theyears since data was exchanged back and forth between the artists,resident to Japan and Germany respectively, to create the Cycloproject. The purpose of their work is the same as much of modernminimalist composing: seeking out and embracing the (oftenmathematical) errors. Ten untitled tracks ranging 1 to 8 minutes makeup the 41+ minute, 'Vario Pac' encased disc. As would be expected, allthe usual sort of clinically clean and precise digital sounds from eachof the artists repertoires are present: high pitch signals, staticnoise, clipped tones, sine waves, sub bass pulses, snaps, crackles andpops all dance about the stereo field. The most notable sound lackingis no sound at all, i.e. silence. These are songs, very active andoften rhythmic and climactic, leaning more toward Nicolai's work asNoto than Ikeda's pure frequency drones. And as with Noto CDs, thevariation across the duration of the disc is noted and muchappreciated. Minimal excess for minimal success
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Norwegians Eirik Glambek Boe and Erlend Oye have made a remarkabledebut with this 45-minute modern acoustic gem of an album. Some of theinfluences are apparent in the vocals — from Nick Drake to Pink Floyd'smore quiet moments. They manage to capture an air of romanticism inbeautiful tones that can either uplift you or bring tears to your eyes.The disc as a whole is quite mellow — a perfect lazy summer album.Their lyrics (such as "...there are many places that I would like to gowith you / but I can't find the key to open my door...") are excellentto the point where even Mark Kozelek couldn't have said them better.Their chord progressions range from sounding somewhat Tortoise-esque todefinitely Belle-and-Sebastian-like, though there is a level of uniquestyle that blends them and produces peaceful daydreamy feels. Lately,too, they have been known to hang with the Badly Drawn Boys, and evengot their Ken Nelson to produce "Quiet is the New Loud." This album isthe perfect example that music does not have to be ground-breaking tobe simply beautiful.
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Over the last few years we have listened to Matt Elliott develop hissound under the Third Eye Foundation guise. One of Bristol UK'sfavorite sons has come a long way from the early days as a supportingcast member of Amp and Flying Saucer Attack. As Third Eye Foundation,he has progressed from the early days of organic sounds cleverlycoupled with electronic breaks to being one of the indie electronicscene's premiere technicians, composers and constructivists. With thisrelease, Elliott has made hints that it will be his own rather quietcurtain call, as he either ends this mission only to start new musicalventures, or turns to devote his full time to fatherhood. Theeight-track 18-minute slab is a collection of a couple collaborativeefforts as well as remixes of music from Blonde Redhead, The RemoteViewer, Urchin and Tarwater. Surprisingly enough for a collection ofthis nature, this disc flows with a keen sense of continuity —consistent with itself, like many albums of original material. From thefirst track, a piece noted as a 3EF remix of Yann Tiersden,breathtaking is the only word I can use to express my personalfeelings. The man who was once described to me as combining drum andbass elements with distorted guitars delivers something with neitherdrums nor bass, filling the room with accordion, swirling piano andsoft vocal samples used in the last album on the track "List". Movingonwards, the rest of the disc screams more of more recent Third EyeFoundation than any of the other names credited to each track,incorporating a fine blend of organic samples, strong foundation andhypnotic beats, admittedly constructed from others' songs. Intoxicatingare other offerings like the Blonde Redhead mix and collaboration withChris Morris. The music community doesn't know what it's missing fromElliott if he indeed chooses to retire at this point. I'm saddened tohear this news given his incredible progression from his beginnings.With any luck it's simply a rumor and he'll be able to find timebetween baby feedings to tinker with more captivatng ideas.
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From the quiet opening "Damned for a bribe!" you know there's something fun coming up in this club remix of the Chicks hit. And when those beats do kick in, you know that this song is meant to be heard full-blast amongst flashy lights and jumpy speed-induced clubbers.
samples:
- COS original version
- Cracker original version (not on the 12")
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There was a time in the late 1980s/early 1990s that American Music Club would release albums which would cut through the trendy indie rock scene like a rusty knife. The group meshed an influence of introspective artistic post-punk with American twang long before Bedhead and Low were recording Joy Division covers, or Ida and Red House Painters were releasing albums.
With each release AMC would take a step further, incorporating more clever songwriting techniques, innovative sounds and lyrical proficiency. Unfortunately the music walked a fine line — too gritty for adult contemporary radio and not cute enough for modern commercial alternative rock. They were essentially a thorn in Warner Bros. side, a major label band without mainstream appeal, despite being hits with critics and music fans worldwide. Following the 1994 split, front man Eitzel continued with varying lineups which included heavy hitters like Peter Buck, Kid Congo Powers and members of Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo and even Pearl Jam. Only now, on his fourth solo full-length album has Eitzel basically shut himself off from the big names, subsequently emerging with his strongest solo release to date. Three years have passed since the last record, in the meantime the invisible man bought himself a Macintosh G4 he affectionately calls "The Dumb Ass" and has written and recorded allegedly over 40 songs. The top 13 picks have materialized on this disc, with styles that incorporate a variety organic sounds, tied together with electronic computer-generated sounds and production. It's a completely new direction for him while the base of each song is undoubtedly pure Eitzel genius. The stories are all true, claims Eitzel, whose lyrics rarely need to match a rhythmic or rhyming scheme, comparing life experiences to fables, or holding no emotions back whether it's love or loss. Additional musicians do appear in various spots, including former AMC bandmate Vudi on guitar as well as horn, drum, and organ contributors. Look for him on tour shortly with a group who has been trained well to execute these ideas in a live environment with a certain grace only Eitzel can lead.
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Mac McCaughan is just one of those guys. He's the guy who runs therecord label (Merge). He's the guy that plays in Supechunk. Now, he'sthe guy that scores films. McCaughan returns as Portastatic for thislovely instrumental soundtrack in an almost spaghetti-western style,although variations abound. Through most of the release, reverbedguitar lines and whistles are complemented by kettle and brush drumsounds and occasional strings and keyboards. Elsewhere, simplesynthesizer and organ lines are forged with thumping beats and snaredrum. The only vocals appear on one track ("Do You Speak English?")that sounds like dialogue straight from the film. Lush, poppy andmoving, this collection probably has a much greater effect whilewatching the motion picture the music is featured in (as manysoundtracks do), but on its own the record is a fine piece of work.Things get a bit repititious on a few tracks, and there are a few"throwaway" tracks — and at just over 34 minutes total, that's a shame— however the sheer variety of sounds makes it an extremely pleasurableand worthwhile listen. There is nothing more inherently hummable thanthe "Looking for Leonard Theme" while walking down the streets of yourtown. I know nothing about the movie, mind you, but it has a glory andtriumph in it that make you want to carry your head high and strut. Ihope it's the theme for that reason, and I look forward to seeing thefilm for that extra emotional impact. All in all, a release well worthchecking out. It's at least enough to keep you engaged, and prettyenough to move you.
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My first impressions were "there's no suprises here." Take two of myfavorite bands and combine their elements: mesh the shuffling drums ofJim White, sparse guitar work of Mick Turner and gentle violin of andcombine that with the wonderful harmonies and obscure references fromLow, the world's premiere songwriters/singers and hear two greatentities together. But upon deeper subsequent listenings, the whole is,in actuality, more than the sum of its parts. Recorded in Holland, inbetween performances and airport arrivals this edition of the "In theFishtank" series is once again about a half hour of bands taking abreak from their regular schtick to do something they enjoy doing. TheEP on the chopping block encompasses the finer elements of both groupsand brings them to a different level. It's strange how a trio ofAustralians make a trio of US Americans sound more in touch with theirAmerican heritage while vocals and harmonies gracefully compliment analready impressive canvas the Australian trio have been painting foryears. Included here are six tunes, including a haunting cover of NeilYoung's "Down By the River," sung by Mimi Parker and completelyunrecognizable until she begins singing, approximately five-minutesinto the track. With this, neither band are gonna win new fans,die-hards will buy this no matter what they hear, so my message is tothose fair-weather listeners: this is good for you and won't disappointyou like the Tortoise/The Ex EP from the same series.
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Low may now be superstars, (yet they're not too big to still appear ona multitude of compilations and singles) but the shining moments onthis split single belong to Karla Shickele's new project, K. The lineupof K features a mixed cast of friends, including Tara Jane O'Neil (ofRetsin, Rodan and solo fame), Cynthia Nelson (of Retsin, Ruby Falls andthe Naysayer), Ida bandmate Michael Littleton, and Ida Pearle. Over thelast year, there have been some random K shows in the northeast US aswell as a couple home-manufactured CD-R releases, each time gatheringmore attention, leading up to an anticipated debut album. K's "RegularGirl" opens the disc on a strong note, a brand new song worthy ofaffection from any Ida appreciator. What follows are two from Low,includning a touchingly sweet track from 1997 titled "Those Girls,"which could almost be a speech directed to teenage girls. Also from Lowis a 3/4 time reworked "Venus" recorded by Warn Defever, which is niceto have for the fans, yet the voices sound kind of off. Defever alsoremixed the closing track, a short Flashpapr cover tune, "Were We toDance," a basic tune which could have been recorded straight tofour-track, powerful yet humble. "Were We to Dance" originally appearedon the 'Your Name and Mine' CD-R from K released last year. K is ontour right now with Retsin, check the dates at Tiger Style's website, and the full-length album is due in July.
samples:
- K - Regular Girl
- Low - Those Girls
- K - Were We to Dance
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The former lead singer of the Screaming Trees returns on this, hisfifth solo release overall, with a set that blows all his previous workaway. This time, Lanegan's main partner in crime is former Soundgardenbassist Ben Shepherd, giving the release a sort of "Return of theGrunge Masters" air. Fortunately, that doesn't get reflected in thesongs, and Shepherd doesn't take the mic much — as he has in Hater andon one track of Soundgarden's "Superunknown," both of which I'll passon every chance I get. The songs are dark, moody, and dare I sayLeonard Cohen-esque, which is always a good thing in my estimation. Thevoice is what does it. Mark Arm recently made the comment that he'd goso far as to have a team of surgeons hold down Lanegan just so theycould try a throat transplant, of which Arm would be the beneficiary.That's a bold statement in and of itself, as Lanegan could easily wakethe dead or woo the ladies with his gritty, spooky crooning. All inall, the release is an amazing growth turn for Lanegan, as thesongwriting, lyrics, and melodies are awe-inspiring. The only complaintI might have is acutally a bit of a tip of the hat: the album has someof the best chances for misheard lyrics of any I've heard. And isn'talways the great artists who are misunderstood ("Excuse me while I kissthis guy," anyone?). On the opening track, "One Way Street," I couldswear Lanegan was saying "Can't get a dog without crying" — he's reallysaying "Can't get it down without crying," apparently. Does it detractfrom the power of this collection? Not even close. This release is justthe latest in a trend of similar artists leaving their old sounds for amore subdued, darker tinge — except Lanegan's been doing it all along.This time, it's clear he'll only get better.
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