Albums and Singles
Deviating from their usual medium of on-demand CD-Rs, the Burning Shedonline label debuts their first Red Book disc in a good old fashionedjewel case. Peter Chilvers (Alias Grace) and Tim Bowness (No-Man,Centrozoon) also collaborate in Samuel Smiles and Henry Fool.'California, Norfolk' is a sort of extension of the former's 'World OfBright Futures' album, the title track in particular. Bowness'ruminations on lost love and fading memories are fairly simple, but hisrich tone and breathy delivery brings the inherent sadness and mutedjoys within them to life. The vocals are very forward in the mix butdeftly framed by minor beats, sampled auras and tender piano, keyboard,guitar and bass melodies and textures. It's beautifully stark - partballadry, part ambient, part soundscape - think of Nick Drake's 'PinkMoon' spirit as processed by Brian Eno. It's strange how quickly thisalbum floats by despite its 45 minute running time. And although goodbeginning to end and back again, "Hostage" and "Winter With You" are mypersonal favorites. For the former, sweeping orchestral synth andbackground giggling help tell the short story of "the girl you neverforgot, was never happy with her lot ... walked around a hostage to herfright". And in the latter, the crunch of trodden snow drifts in andout of its 10 plus minutes. Chilvers subtlety steals the limelight bybreaking up an instrumental passage with a delicate piano refrain.'California, Norfolk' is another great addition to the ever growingChilvers and Bowness related pile.
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According to the liner notes, Brombron is "a joint project by extrapooland staalplaat and receives financial support from mondriaanstichting." Quite what all that means, I don't know, but apparently theboys got some studio time to work on this record specifically. And itwas money well spent for their patrons because this is an excellentexposition of the more musical end of microsound-style laptopcomposition, a subgenre put decisively on the map by ChristianFennesz's low-bitrate eye-opener 'Endless Summer.'
As on Mathieu's equally pleasing 'frequencyLib' album, much of thealbum is about processing samples from hinted-at sources and givingthem a new identity, but there's also nice use of a field recording andoutright, er, covers, you might say. Unlike many records in themicrosound genre, no harsh noise pieces are found here. Instead thereare thirteen subtle tracks, starting with the straightfireworks-field-recording-and-organ of "New Years Eve". (Clearly JimO'Rourke didn't exhaust the potential of recorded fireworks on GastrDel Sol's 'Camofleur'.)
Other highlights are the processed warble of "Turkey Song"—a revivalisttake on Peanuts which clearly influenced the soundtrack picks in 'TheRoyal Tenenbaums', and which, along with "Vinnie's Theme", punctuatesthe album with a sense of humour. A further bonus is the special cardpackaging, unique to the Brombron series, which holds the CD in placewithout a spot of plastic, glue, or even one of those annoying Mort AuxVaches fold-out clips. The record's been out the best part of a year,and is apparently limited, so seek out a copy while you can.
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It sounds like a joke for indie music hipsters: what do you get whenyou mix The Melvins, Fantomas and a crowd for a live show? This liverecording from December 31st, 2000 is the best answer, and it's notbad. Despite the fact that all seven musicians from the two bands arecredited, the songs don't often demand that all of them bang away atonce, but when the all of them come down and pound the music out, theydo a really good job of staying out of each other's way and keeping therecording relatively unmuddled. For the most part, Patton does thevocals, although Melvins' Dale Crover and King Buzzo are also creditedwith vocals. A lot of the music sounds -- not surprisingly -- like amelding between the recent Melvins' buzzing sludginess and the moreethereal moments of Fantomas' vignettes. If you've heard the recentofferings from Melvins or fantomas, there's no big surprises here, justmore quality noise. Some pieces are clearly derived from one or theother groups (Fantomas' cover of the themes from the films "The Omen"and "Cape Fear" or "Ol' Black Stooges" an assaulting drum jam whichappears in a much more abbreviated form on the Melvins' new album Hostile Ambient Takeover"as that album's opener.) A few pieces and moments throughout can beisolated to one musician -- like Patton's signature squeals and screamsfrom Fantomas' albums, or Dunn's bass pluckings in "Terpulative Guns& Drugs", but in general, the music and musicians complement eachother well enough that it stops being about one or the other andbecomes an entity in it's own right. Some of the more ambient noisepieces remind me nothing so much as the early noise of Nurse WithWound, and "Skin Horse" features a hysterical Ween-esque vocal linethat's a real treat, but not representative of the rest of the album.So if you're a fan of NWW's older noise pieces or a fan of eitherFantomas or the Melvins' recent output, you shouldn't be disappointedwith this 40 minute set (even if it isn't the full show,) from theMelvins and Fantomas.
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When a band loses a member or two, and the band decides to soldier onwithout them, sometimes the results can be catastrophic. There alwaysseems to be something missing, even in the smallest way, that affectsthe soundscape. In the case of Kilowatthours, who craft pop songwonders of the expansive variety, paring down the members hasn't costthem anything in the sound department. In fact, it's improved it. "TheBright Side" is Kilowatthours' second full-length, after 2000's "Strainof Positive Thinking," which the band recorded at Trevor Kampmann's(hollAnd) studio in Washington, DC. And compared to their earlier work,"Side" is just as sure, sparser than before, but wholly a step in theright direction. Vocals are more of a center piece, not blended asmuch, and there isn't an overwhelming urge for the band to loudenthings up like there seemed to be in the past. Kilowatthours still showthe propensity for "rocking out," though, as they do on several placeson the album, most notably "Last Thursday" and "Almost Airtight." Therealso seemed to be more effects on this record, which is a worthwhileaddition, and makes for some interesting backing noise. And, as always,the use of varying types of electric piano is a fantastic base forthese songs. This is just straightforward, catchy, hooky, with the headslightly cocked to the side pop. The addition of a few guests (formerband member Ryan Compton and Sonna's Jeremy deVine) creates some trulypretty moments ("The Only Good Thing About Pollution," "A How-toBook"), and the longer numbers don't disappoint, as they often can withthis genre. A great release, and a great continuation of their sound.Try it on.
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