Tag: experimental

  • THE INVISIBLE : RISPAH

    THE INVISIBLE : RISPAH

    Most other reviews of Rispah mention the death of Dave Okumu’s mother as the album’s defining feature. Of course, Rispah was written and recorded in the immediate aftermath of this event, so it would be difficult to ignore the impact: Indeed, Okumu has described the album as a “love letter to grief.” However, there is a risk that all of that (and I really don’t mean to belittle such a sad event) is getting in the way of objective opinions of the record. Rispah has so much more to offer.

    THE INVISIBLE

    RISPAH

    Ninja Tune

    2012-06-12

    The Invisible comprises of Dave Okumu (vocals and guitar), Tom Herbert (bass and synthesizer) and Leo Taylor (drums). They have been working together as The Invisible since 2006 and in 2009 released a self-titled, Mercury Music Prize nominated debut album. Okumu and Co’s debut The Invisible bounced along at a furious rate of knots with dance and jazzy rhythms mixing seamlessly with rock sensibilities all pulled together with smooth production values and Okumu’s breathy vocal technique. It was pretty good but kind of fluffy in places which left this particular critic wondering a little what all of the fuss was about.

    Rispah is different from that eponymous debut in the respect that the spring has been removed from the band’s step and, with it, some of the fluff that was attached. The album retains that special smooth production style with former UNKLE Richard File sitting behind the mixing desk. The jazz influence is still apparent, but with this outing, there is more fearless experimentation and more dance beats (probably File’s influence). The record is more pleasingly minimalist with shadows of Philip Glass and Eno-like treatments, which makes the record so listenable. On every listen, you are exposed to something that you may have missed the last time. It a nuanced and emotional collection of songs.

    This album is also a haunted house of a collection. Not necessarily due to any subject matter of the songs (although this has an impact) but because each tune has a eerie quality that puts the listener in a strange place. So far, on every listen, Rispah manages to send chills down the spine. This quality was evident on the debut, but here it is front and centre, from the instrumental introduction “A Particle of Love”, with its swathes of swirling synths mixed with Kenyan spiritual singing (this meme resurfaces throughout the whole piece) to the seven-and-a-half minute finale, “Protection”.

    Rispah never loses its way. It is a coherent group of songs that fit together in such a way that one could wonder if any of the songs were taken out of context the impact might be lost. In that respect, it should be viewed almost as an art installation. The songs flow in and out of each other often to the point where they could easily be one song. This is not because all of the songs sound identical (They don’t) but because they so strongly sit together like variations on a theme. Apparently, that theme is grief, but I find the whole thing quite uplifting. Particular highlights of the movement are “Surrender” and “Protection”, although it is hard to single any one piece out for praise.

    Rispah is therefore an evolution of The Invisible’s body of work with less spring and more experiment. This cohesive collection is an eerie and nuanced collection that will reward the listener with multiple listens.

    This review originally appeared on Popmatters.com

    https://www.popmatters.com/160491-the-invisible-rispah-2495836078.html
  • NINE INCH NAILS: GHOSTS I-IV

    NINE INCH NAILS: GHOSTS I-IV

    NINE INCH NAILS

    GHOSTS I-IV

    The Null Corporation

    2008-03-02

    Recorded over ten weeks in the autumn of 2007, Ghosts I-IV is a departure in many ways for Nine Inch Nails mainstay Trent Reznor. No song titles, no record label, no lyrics. Until April 8th 2008 there is not even a physical album. The concept of this release, if not the content, is an exhibition in minimalism. If it had been released under any moniker other than Nine Inch Nails, it might not have achieved the same amount of attention (the volume of downloads on the first weekend of release broke the band’s website). In many ways it challenges what we know about the band, as it liberates Reznor’s skill at musical composition from his often trite lyrics.

    Trent Reznor has always had an uncomfortable relationship with the organised religion that is the music industry. He has gone on record criticising his former label’s pricing policy, accusing them of ripping off the real fans. After parting company with them, the man decided to circumnavigate the whole process and release a next-to-nothing priced download. Of course, a range of differently priced versions are also available, the most expensive is limited to 2500 copies and will set you back $300. Don’t bother looking for one. Before I’d even fired up the iMac to write this piece all copies of the Ultra Deluxe Limited package were long gone. Better luck with Ghosts V-VIII.

    So what is it like? Ghosts I-IV is a tonal painting, a collection of moods and not all of these moods are good ones. If Ghosts I-IV was a landscape painting it would not be in the style of Bob Ross. There are no happy little accidents here. Reznor was not humming along to himself in a jolly, gentle, and beardy fashion while he took paint from his palette. It should come as no great surprise to anyone who has ever heard of Nine Inch Nails that this record shows us a landscape of dystopian design. Like a desert, it is bleak and unbearable for any length of time. However, it is strangely beautiful: littered with little pockets of hitherto undiscovered splendour, as well as unspeakable Lovecraftian creations from beyond the walls of sleep. I mean this is art, man.

    A great deal of art provokes dramatic emotion and stimulates the human mind. Sometimes art can be elusive, hard to understand and is often challenging. Art varies in value according to the consumer and its worth lies in the wallet of the beholder. In these respects, Ghosts I-IV does not disappoint. At times the album is gentle, almost classical in nature. At other moments, it is a dance instrumental with industrial overtones. It can be ear-strippingly torturous with all kinds of distortion, drum loops, and found sounds, some barely making sense in your head. This album is a wonderful, if unsettling experience. It’s just not very Nine Inch Nails.

    Ghosts I-IV uses the same scratchpad as Brian Eno and Robert Fripp, although in modern parlance it should properly be described as “Dark Ambient”. There are 36 tracks, but no songs. There are recurring themes, one of which echoes John Murphy’s score for the film 28 Days Later. Indeed, the album holds together in much the same way as a movie. There are four distinct acts. There is a gradual build as you are introduced to all the characters. There are action scenes, there are scenes of pathos.

    Reznor has opened the gates to a world of new possibilities both commercially and creatively. He shows here that he is much more than the swagger and smut of some of his previous releases. He has made it clear to the world that he has real vision and dexterity. Lying in a darkened room with only this music for company conjures images of unimaginable beauty and horror. Ghosts I-IV could be the soundtrack to an unrealised film based on the works of H. P. Lovecraft. That is the tone; dark, brooding, (aw hell I’ve tried to go the whole review without saying it) haunting.

    The review was originally posted on popmatters.com

    https://www.popmatters.com/nine-inch-nails-ghosts-i-iv-2496169332.html
  • DISCO BISCUITS: THE WIND AT FOUR TO FLY

    DISCO BISCUITS: THE WIND AT FOUR TO FLY

    Disco Biscuits don’t play fair. They write songs, record them for posterity, and then never play them the same way again. Thus, if you fall in love with a recorded version of a song and then see them live, you will almost certainly be in for a shock. Your song, the object of your affection, is torn limb from limb and then put back together by someone who seemingly has no instruction book or familiarity with the original. Luckily, I had no such foreknowledge when I first heard this release. Familiarity with any of the tunes on this live recording would have sent me flying over the edge on to the jagged rocks below. The Wind at Four to Fly is one of those beasts that provoke an emotional response. It is a test of sorts. If you can listen to all two and a half hours (only 12 songs) without making an attempt on your own or anybody else’s life, then you are welcome to the inner “bisco” sanctum. And you are welcome to it.

    DISCO BISCUITS

    THE WIND AT FOUR TO FLY

    Sci Fidelity

    2006-04-18

    “Bisco” is what Disco Biscuits and fans thereof call their musical style; it is essentially improvisations on a theme in the vein of, but not quite the same as, a jam session (I don’t have the time or the patience to explain; if you are interested check out their extensive entry on Wikipedia). Jam sessions are where musicians flex their musical muscle in the search for inspiration and that killer idea. A sort of melodic, brainstorming get-together. They should not be confused with performances. A performance [per·form·ance n] is “…a presentation of an artistic work to an audience, for example, a play or piece of music” (interestingly, a performance can also be “…a public display or behaviour that others find distasteful, for example, an angry outburst that causes embarrassment”). A jam session is more like practising. This is the stage before performance. With that in mind, think on how bands like Disco Biscuits can enforce a cover charge to their band practice and now it seems they are being allowed to release a double album of them rehearsing.

    Great work if you can get it. I have a feeling that if you were to attend a Disco Biscuits gig, then a mixture of one part their grooves and four parts copious amounts of beer would equal one good night out. However, in the cold light of day the performance just doesn’t quite stand up to scrutiny. There are a number of bum notes and missed cues that rear their heads on this chronicle of their old drummer’s last performance with the band. So, for me it kind of misses the mark. However, had I been to this gig I would have a wonderful reminder, or perhaps my only memory, of the event. If you weren’t at the gig or are not already a fan of Disco Biscuits, there is little on The Wind at Four to Fly to grab you. In this respect I suggest that Disco Biscuits are preaching to the converted somewhat. This is how they can get away with the sheer length of the thing.

    Furthermore, I would be derelict in my duty if I did not refer this release to the Society of Music Fans for the Elimination of Double-Disc Releases, for my colleague Jeff Vrabel to lock it forever into the vaults of the society’s own Room 101. Over to you, Mr. Vrabel.

    originally posted on pop matters.com

    https://www.popmatters.com/disco-biscuits-the-wind-at-four-to-fly-2495682306.html
  • POLYSICS: NOW IS THE TIME

    POLYSICS: NOW IS THE TIME

    To paraphrase the late John Peel, this record does not fade in rather slowly. It wakes you up to the possibility that music can be simultaneously unusual, raucous, and catchy by kicking you in the private parts.

    POLYSICS

    NOW IS THE TIME

    Tofu

    2006-02-21

    The new album from Polysics Now Is the Time contains their familiar assortment of DEVOesque “technicolor pogo punk”. For the uninitiated this means that the record is a blend of punk sensibilities and synth-pop much in the way that DEVO promised but never quite delivered. The band may look like the aforementioned DEVO with their Day-Glo boiler suits, but musically they use Mark Mothersbaugh & Co. really only as a jumping off point. They are like DEVO only in the same way that The Ramones were inspired by surf and bubble gum. That is to say that you can hear where they are coming from but they sound like their source material cranked up to eleven to the power of the first number that comes into your head.

    Polysics are Japanese, which means that it is hard for this Westerner to decipher what the songs on this album are actually about. Frankly, lead singer Hiroyuki Hayashi could be reading his shopping list. Moreover, Hayashi’s libretto jumps around all over the place; he sometimes uses English, sometimes Japanese, and sometimes their own invented “space language”. So the potential language barrier is leapt over by simply rendering language itself irrelevant. Indeed, the music does the talking here, and the music mostly wants you to mosh around and bang your head. In fact, this review took longer than anticipated because I had to leave it paused on my Mac while I did just that around my office.

    “I My Me Mine” is a prime example of this and of what Polysics have to offer. The song pogos along at furious rate until the chorus blows in, replete with recorder. This instrument adds a cutesy or sinister element depending on your perspective. The track itself is somewhat spikey and recalls some of the more punky elements of Toni Basil. (Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would write that sentence.) The opener “Teil Teil Teil” is a straight ahead punker that sounds more like the bastard child of The Damned, Big Black and (alright they do sound like them quite a bit) DEVO. Further on in running order they change tack slightly by employing a Talking Heads-style white funk on the rather first-rate “Boy’s Head”. All in all what we have here is the awkward reminder of big hair, (really) bright colours, and shoulder pads. Yep, it’s the 1980s baby!

    It might be easy, because of their quirky dress sense and quirkier still tunes, to write Polysics off as a novelty act. Do that at you peril. Sure there is humour in a lot of the tunes on Now Is the Time, perhaps more than it is possible to discern. However, this is not a comedy act. The energy of their live performance bleeds into this studio recording. Main man Hayashi owns the audience on stage and provides a raw and honest performance that you would not usually associate with electro tinged music.

    If you have never come across Polysics before, this album would be quite a good jumping on point. You should also check out Neu and the “best of” from last year Polysics or Die!!!! or better still go and see them live at some point on their current tour. I can see no reason why this album should not increase the cohort of Polysics fans outside of Japan (where they are already big news). Granted, if you are 30-something then you may have heard similar sounds before, but never played with such vim or vigour.

    this review originally pogoed onto popmatters.com

    https://www.popmatters.com/polysics_now_is_the_time-2495675417.html