9 lives to wonder (by Legendary Pink Dots)

GSTEVENS@ccmail.sunysb.edu

I just got a copy of Nine Lives To Wonder that I ordered directly from the
Pinkdots about three weeks ago & my life is once again complete for awhile
(at least musically). Has anybody else gotten it yet? I haven't seen
anyone mention it on Cloud-Zero, so here's a little pertinent info...

9 Lives to Wonder (BIAS 280 CD)

1. Madame Guillotine (5:31)
2. On Another Shore (6:24)
3. Softly Softly (2:05)
4. Crumbs On The Carpet (4:55)
5. Hotel Z (7:45)
6. Oasis Malande (2:58)
7. A Crack In Melancholy Time (5:35)
8. Siren (5:31)
9. The Angel Trail (2:01)
10. Nine Shades To The Circle (10:22)
11. A Terra Firma Welcome (5:18)

Those Responsible:
The Silver Man, Ryan Moore, Prophet Qa'Sepel Niels Van Hoornblower; Special
Guest Cevin Key - drums on 3,4,7,8,10

Yes - this is one fantastic album - softer than Malachai - more along the
lines of The Maria Dimension, though a little more experimentation than on
that album. I'd give a more thorough review, but let me just implore you
to find this album any way you can, and review it yourself. It really is
quite beautiful & worth the effort.
-Gerald

ezust@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca (Alan Ezust)

I've had 9 lives for a couple of weeks now, but have listened to it only
a couple of times, so don't expect this review to be profound or deep.

But to start off with, I am quite pleased with this release - as mentioned
earlier, it is not as harsh as Malachai; in fact, it is quite easy to
listen to, and comparisons to Maria Dimension are quite valid. What's
even more pleasing is that it seems that Ka-Spel has been cured of
the "Hey Look! I got a chorus that I can repeat over and over so you'll
get sick of the fucking song after the third time you hear it!" disease,
which was the main reason I can't listen to most of TMD anymore.

A few comments on individual songs:

Softly Softly - reminds me a lot of old Pink Floyd/Barrett,
and it sounds a lot like White Coats and Haloes (on Last Man To Fly)
The kind of "drunken happiness" mood turns me off. I never could
get into Barrett that much though.

Crumbs on the Carpet - the precussion sounds here sound so hauntingly
familiar, like there was another song with the same pattern. I can't
remember which one it is, although I did find another song with the
same sounds - A Split Second: Muscle Machine. As I am typing this, I
am going through my record collection, and came up with
Art of Noise: A Day At The Races (from Innosence Nonsense) as another
possible candidate.

Hotel Z: Very TMD-Ish - reminds me of "The Ocean Cried Blue Murder"

Crack in Melancholy Time - If LPDs had singles, this would be one. I'd
expect to hear this on the radio if they ever got decent distribution.

Siren - this is one of my favorite tracks - i dunno why - maybe it is the
violin samples and the layering of the voices... It also sounds
*very* familiar, as if there is another song that they've done
before which was similar.

Nine Shades To The Circle - I haven't heard Pink Floyd's new album....
So keep this in mind when you consider that I said to myself
the following when I heard this song:

"I bet Pink Floyd would sound like this if they were still doing
music now."

Overall, this is an excellent album; I felt it was worth the
US$20 some-odd I paid for it. I like it more than TMD or Malachai,
and perhaps as much or a little more than Shadow Weaver pt1.

Rex <richwill@xsite.net>