Brainwashed

13 February 2000

Carter Adams

Albums and Singles

I'll admit, this is my first introduction to Mark Nelson's project, Pan‚Ä¢American. Even though I had read a little blurb concerning his first album in Magnet, I imagined that I would be hearing something very similar to Nelson's other musical venture, Labradford.

Kranky

I was kind of in for a surprise when I put this album on. Immediately pumping out of the speakers were rolling basslines, shards of keyboard, and lots of reverb and echo, the perfect combination for a nice electronic dub album. It seems that most of the musical avant-garde and indie rock world is turning to dub for its widespread influences, with bands from Pole to Twilight Circus churning out some of the most original music to be heard in recent times. But, what's nice about each of these new dub releases is that they each have their own individual flair and flavor.

Pan‚Ä¢American is no exception to this, soliciting a great vocal appearances on "Code" from Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker of Low. They add a great depth and dimension to the track, infusing it with beautiful, trance-like vocals that come damn near close to giving this track some dancehall sensibility. But, this isn't music for the dancehall. It's music for some unknown tropical ambient lounge.

Guest appearances on "Both Ends Fixed" and "Coastal" by cornetist Rob Mazurek of Isotope/Chicago Underground lend a jazz sensibility. While it might not have been what I was initially expecting, this album is easily one of the best of the year to date, and one that I plan on taking along with me on my next journey to the beach. Great driving music, by the way.

samples:

Code (with vocals by Alan and Mimi from Low)
K. Luminate
Both Ends Fixed (with coronet played by Rob Mazurek of Isotope/Chicago Underground)

06 February 2000

Albums and Singles

For what it takes years and a few releases to get to, Scott Heren has reached on his debut CD.

06 February 2000

Administrator

Albums and Singles

For what it takes years and a few releases to get to, Scott Heren has reached on his debut CD.

"Folk Songs for Trains, Trees and Honey" took a year to record and pulled in only a minute amount of guests to round out the record. The music is an instrumental blend of electronics, moderate paced progressions, talented percussion, organ and bass guitar interplay. The sound is far from amateur - excellently produced and presented. Songs like "Paulo," "Conditioning," and "F Ride + Blues" sound like mainly improvised jammed pieces while the album's closer, "Slabulas," along with a couple of the album's 30 second bits explore more beat-less electronica. The flow of the album is natural and well placed, but I have a couple bones to pick. While all of the songs are very strong, I'm left aching for a little more. Much like Tortoise's TNT album, the songs are a bit short, not allowing quite enough time to develop, mature and settle in well with the listener. It's almost as if once our attention span is tapped into, it's time to end the tune and jump into the next. With nine tracks, the album is only about 30 minutes when it could have (seemingly) easily been stretched to over forty with some deeper exploration of some of the tracks. Don't let that be an influencor either way because apart from that, it's a brilliant record.
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06 February 2000

Jason Olariu

Albums and Singles

Since their first album,one that cultivated the cinematic-influenced emo sound of bands such asJune Of 44, until now, Cerberus Shoal has grown into a beautiful beast.

Moving further away from guitar-based tunes with each release, andconcentrating more on rapturous/meditative spirituality, their fourthrelease is most likely their best. Utilizing horns, keyboards, dozensof ethnic instruments, and an impressive battery of percussion, "Homb"has a sound that could best be described as music for a new religion.The very majestic "Myrrh (Waft)" starts with sparse percussion, only toswell with keyboards, horns, and guitars in the distance, providing anatmospheric base for loping bongos and impassioned chanting. "Myrrh(Reprise)" has a very Eastern feel to it, and not just because of theappearance of shakahuchi. The way the instruments lock together,weaving a trancey melodic tapestry, and how the soul-fire vocalizationsdart between and beneath. You will be rapt in trance bliss in no time.As atmospheric but not as jazzy as their last album, the stunningsoundtrack "Elements Of Structure And Permanence", Cerbebrus Shoalcontinue to show us the path of evolution toward true musical genius.
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06 February 2000

Mark Weddle

Albums and Singles

"The Somniloquist" (meaning 'one who talks in his sleep') is a limitededition (2000) 73 minute spoken word album by former SWANS and TheAngels of Light leader Michael Gira available signed direct from theSWANS web site.The disc is divided into 5 stories read live:Bloodsucker (1984), The Sex Machine (1994), MTV and the Cult of theBody (1996), The Idiot (1996) and My Birth (1996) that vary in lengthfrom 6 to 25 minutes apiece. The first two stories, or 'fairy tales' asGira refers to them, may also be found in his 1994 book "The Consumer"on Henry Rollins' 2.13.61 book imprint. In short the tales cover thesesubjects: a person being physically and mentally eviscerated byanother, a sex show, the clean-up of an air plane crash, a prisoner andhis experiences in jail, the birth of a child and murder of the motherby the child. Consider these *adult* fairy tales. Gira's frequentinspirational sources are also found here: authority, control, virtualrealities, fame, love, hate, sex, rape, violence, brutality, gore, etc.Gira has the same penchant for painting evocative images with words ashe does with sounds. His speech is delivered in a nonchalant anddeadpan, yet hypnotic manner deviating occasionally for an impassioned,whispered or sung line. His mastery of language and attention to detailis crucial to the visceral nature of these stories. You almost feelguilty for enjoying these tales which is probably the purpose of it'screation ... a confrontation of sorts with the darkest hidden innerthoughts, feelings and sides within individuals and society in general.Luckily for us Gira is not reluctant to share the fascinating and/orfrightening bowels of his mind ...

samples:

order: www.swans.pair.com
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06 February 2000

Mark Weddle

Albums and Singles

When's the last time you bought a compilation with 500 tracks by 500artists? Never right? You can now. This LP features just that ... 500locked groove tracks, 250 per side.You drop the needle where you want,listen to the locked groove until you're sick of it, then drop theneedle somewhere else. It's a pain in the ass but it's fun too. Some ofthe more familiar names among the 500 artists: Aube, Zoviet France,Otomo Yoshide, Terry Riley, Project Dark, the Haters, Lee Ranaldo,Thurston Moore, Masonna, People Like Us, Sonic Youth, etc, etc, etc,etc, etc.
This is the first time I've reviewed something without actuallylistening to it all beforehand ... but do you know how long it's goingto take to hear all of these tracks? Quite a long time. Someday when Ihave a lot of free time on my hands I'll sit down and do it and maybetape them off.
Anyways, I dropped the needle randomly several dozen times on bothsides for this write-up. What I heard were short (a few seconds apiece)found sound style loops of just about everything you can imagine:whirs, clicks, whistles, buzzes, drones, clankings, bangings,scrapings, industrial noises, electronics, drums/percussion, dialoguebits and undescribeable samples and collages. A lot of reallyinteresting sounds here ... quite a few you can leave repeating for agood length of time. The record comes in a neatly designed b/w gatefoldsleeve inside a clear bubblewrap cover with the full list of artists onthe inside. This is one of those items you own just because it's uniqueand cool, show off to all your friends and don't necessarily spin allthat often. Art, for cheap, at around $10 ...

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06 February 2000

Carter Adams

Albums and Singles

06 February 2000

Carter Adams

Albums and Singles

Actually, the full titleis the CIVIL warS: a tree is best measured when it is down, but who'sgoing to read an article with such a lengthy tagline? And yes, I knowthat perhaps some of you are thinking that it's quite a lengthy titlefor someone who pioneered the concept of minimalism, but this disc isanything but that.The fifth movement of an opera to be performed inthe mid-80s, Glass' section (other composers were responsible for theremaining sections) was one of the few that actually surfaced, and hasfinally been captured here on disc for the first time. The "Romesection," as this fifth movement is called is Glass at his mostexpansive, without any of the redundant musical syncopations that he isknown for. Yes, there are the rapidly shifting chords and mechanicalrhythms of his soundtrack pieces, but Glass utilizes the voice to itsutmost. It's as if he took the Rome section to heart, studying theworks of Verdi and Puccini and fusing their style with his signaturesound. The fact that the title is the CIVIL warS and not the CIVIL waris a conscious one made by Robert Wilson, the opera's visionary andlibrettist. In the liner notes to the album, David Wright notes themultitude of nations and cultures represented within the opera, showingnot only the many nations of the world, but also their "warS." One ofmy favorite Glass pieces, I would easily recommend this to anyone as anintroduction to one of the most important composers of the late-20thcentury. And to a friend who recently commented on Glass and hisminimalist contemporaries as being "new age," I would happily ask himto listen to this and then try to compare it to any of the equallyhorrible Wyndham Hill samplers.

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30 January 2000

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Okay, I know this albumis about five years old but I strongly think it's worth mentioning. Acouple weeks ago I found a place online where I could order the UKpressing of this disc, which I had always known was clearly a differentversion than the US release which I have owned for years. I was notready for such an incredibly pleasant and drastic surprise.Everything's beefed up and played out with the force and energy thatblows the US release away completely. Although Justin Warfield's rap isweak, the opening tune, "Bug Powder Dust" hits hundreds of times harderwith a powerful pounding driving bass line and an incredible melodycompletely missing on the one I already had. Other guests and othertracks follow suit with an abrasive side of dub completely void on theother version, currently collecting dust in my collection. Playingthroughout the disc on nearly all of the tracks is a star-studded teamof various Dub Syndicate veterans Skip MacDonald, Doug Wimbish, KeithLeBlanc and Bim Sherman. Guest vocalists and players include SineadO'Connor, Jah Wobble and other singers. An 11th track, "5ml. Barrel," aspoken word piece from Will Self backed by some incredible music wasn'teven on the US version. It's no wonder to me, looking back how thisdisc bombed in North America.

samples:

Bug Powder Dust (the better version - from the UK CD)
Sleepyhead (with Bim Sherman)
Somewhere
Bug Powder Dust (the crummy US CD version - just for comparison sake)

30 January 2000

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Finally, this is the album we all knew Matt Elliot could make.

Domino UK/ Merge US

Sure, everybody's heard rave things about him and his music but anyone who's bought one of the albums or seen him in concert has thought there could be something more. This is it. The album is clean and clear, all the music flows well and at the end I'm hitting play again. It's not far from the first few albums - a little drum and bass, some loungey organ tunes, choral vocal samples all mixed in with an appropriate progression.

"I've Lost That Loving Feline" and "Stone Cold Said So" wash over the listener as very nice punchy beat tunes with pretty samples taking the front stage. The second track, "What is it With You?" hits me with a keyboard progression all to remeniscent of Architecture and Morality-era OMD, while the 11-minute "Are You Still a Cliche?" just blows me away with its grand and beautiful sounding acoustic forward/reverse guitar - combined with solo vocalist and orchestral samples. An easy contender for a Lynch film broken hearted dream sequence.

samples:

30 January 2000

Jason Olariu

Albums and Singles

I really had no idea what to expect when I put this disc on, and was quickly blown (okay, washed) away.5WM are Windy and Carl of, well, Windy And Carl fame, along withpal Greg, AKA Violet Glass Oracle. Starting points may be W&C's"Antarctica" Ep, "Occasional Light" by September Plateau, or maybe evenan ADD-fueled Main. Carl Hultgren's trademark post-Reilly guitar sheetsbillow from end to end, both in fore and background, with electronicice floes disrupting any sense of total tranquility. Fractured beatsand rusty machines (the last breath of a 404, out-of-focus Moogs)occasionally bob to the surface, only to be washed over again bycascading waves of endlessly delayed feedback. "The Devils And AngelsAre The Same" could have been an out-take from "Selected Ambient WorksVol.2"; both versions of "Sleeping To Technology" have a very aquaticfeel to them, thanks to the depth charge bass and soothing repetitiousflow. Close your eyes, and picture the sea anemones lazily floating by.Transcendental? More like otherworldly.
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