Ok, so the introductory blurb. I first encountered Yo La Tengo in a split show with Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and they suprised me with a face meltingly great performance. Not only did they blast out feedback drenched guitar freakouts, but they also fit in some beautiful pop melodies and the longest version of Sun Ra's Nuclear War I've ever heard.
I've now explored a chunk of their back catalogue and have found a lot to like throughout. I'm Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass, their album from a few years ago is actually probably their strongest with an almost perfect mix of the chaotic distortathons and beautiful melodies.
Unfortunately their new record doesn't quite hold up as well. The pace is relatively sedate throughout and rather too one dimensional. There are some nice strings in a few numbers and everything has a soothing reverb glow, but I struggle to listen to the whole thing without drifting off.
The most unfortunate thing about the album is the lack of no-wavey skronk to mix up the songs. Instead of integrating the razor edge guitar into the tracks in a tight and creative way, the album closes with a repeating chord sequence and guitar blow out. This is nice enough when taken on its own but it feels like a missed opportunity and an afterthought.
Next time how about a bit more creativity throughout, eh?
On a side note, look out for a post about Nurse With Wound's excellent new CD that costs a bargain 99p in a few days. 80 minutes or so of some fine collage work that sounds like a wreak of People Like Us, Stars of the Lid and dada play.
Saturday, 5 December 2009
Monday, 23 November 2009
Current 93 - Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain/Monohallucinatory Mountain
Having only experienced a fraction of Tibet's output, namely The Inmost Light trilogy, the split EP with OM and various earlier industrial soundscapes with a prominent Nurse With Wound feel, I have long felt the need to atone. The unsettling tone of Tibet's almost spoken word delivery of apocalypse has always appealed to the Mark Smith and EA Poe in me.
It is rare to find someone with such a singular vision.
Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain displays the same irritating multiplicity present in many other culty bands. The vinyl pressing comes with a superb side long spoken word piece with minimal decoration that is exclusive to that format. Similarly, the CD editions of the album come in either stereo or mono format. A word, then, for the differences. The stereo mix present on the first three sides of vinyl and the standard CD version is spacey and detailed with many small details sitting just below the vocal and roaring guitars. Warped vocals and electronic smears fill each track just beyond your reach. The mono mix is far more aggressive and 'punchy' and yet some of the smaller details are lost. Which version you choose depends entirely on how up front and aggressive you like your guitars, or if you prefer the subtlety of a deep mix.
The music itself seems to discard some of the more folk orientated material of the past, replacing it instead with repetitive and gnawing riffs and incessant drums. The material is clearly a progression from the song from the OM split, itself a hulking masterpiece. The slow tempos almost point towards a doom metal feel, but the music is certainly not amp fixated. Strings occasionally emerge from the fuzz, as well as some wonderfully appropriate acoustic, steel tipped finger patterns from James Blackshaw.
The lyrical themes seem to follow a character called Aleph, who is comparable to the biblical Adam. The images are fractured and disturbed with no clear narrative. I am not sure that I fully appreciate the lyrical content at present as meaning is as fleeting as the mysterious sounds that fill the tracks. Maybe I will have more to add to this as time goes on.
It is rare to find someone with such a singular vision.
Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain displays the same irritating multiplicity present in many other culty bands. The vinyl pressing comes with a superb side long spoken word piece with minimal decoration that is exclusive to that format. Similarly, the CD editions of the album come in either stereo or mono format. A word, then, for the differences. The stereo mix present on the first three sides of vinyl and the standard CD version is spacey and detailed with many small details sitting just below the vocal and roaring guitars. Warped vocals and electronic smears fill each track just beyond your reach. The mono mix is far more aggressive and 'punchy' and yet some of the smaller details are lost. Which version you choose depends entirely on how up front and aggressive you like your guitars, or if you prefer the subtlety of a deep mix.
The music itself seems to discard some of the more folk orientated material of the past, replacing it instead with repetitive and gnawing riffs and incessant drums. The material is clearly a progression from the song from the OM split, itself a hulking masterpiece. The slow tempos almost point towards a doom metal feel, but the music is certainly not amp fixated. Strings occasionally emerge from the fuzz, as well as some wonderfully appropriate acoustic, steel tipped finger patterns from James Blackshaw.
The lyrical themes seem to follow a character called Aleph, who is comparable to the biblical Adam. The images are fractured and disturbed with no clear narrative. I am not sure that I fully appreciate the lyrical content at present as meaning is as fleeting as the mysterious sounds that fill the tracks. Maybe I will have more to add to this as time goes on.
The Start
After idling too long, I have decided to share my musical discoveries.
There are no hard and fast rules, although I am approaching this as a series of reviews/impressions based mainly on new music. My glorious look back bore-ism will undoubtedly force me to comment on glorious relics past when the urge comes, but discovery is my aim, along with the sweet feeling of excitement upon finding a different approach.
There will be no genre bounds, all is accepted.
If anyone has any suggestions of new artists that could be covered just let me know.
There are no hard and fast rules, although I am approaching this as a series of reviews/impressions based mainly on new music. My glorious look back bore-ism will undoubtedly force me to comment on glorious relics past when the urge comes, but discovery is my aim, along with the sweet feeling of excitement upon finding a different approach.
There will be no genre bounds, all is accepted.
If anyone has any suggestions of new artists that could be covered just let me know.
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