Saturday, January 13, 2007
the painful leg injuries
if the devil's in the details then how many details can you fit upon a match? cd+dvd
[2006, oks recordings of north america]
if the devil's in the details, perhaps attempting to challenge fiona apple's crown for most verbose album title, is pli's second effort, again issued on their own oks label. thankfully, all comparisons with ms. apple end there (she did have some good songs though). i reviewed pli's backwards, broken and incorrectly disc awhile back, but if your memory isn't too great, i'll help you out: they're a husband and wife duo out of brooklyn, ny. bill byrne handles the electronics, vocals, field recordings and all instrumentation that isn't the cello or that doesn't involve percussion, suzanne takes care of those.
what a difference a year has made for the painful leg injuries. 2005's backwards, broken and incorrectly, while it was a solid album, centered primarily around drones and cold soundscapes, familiar territory for many an ambient techno project. they've raised the bar considerably for themselves on this one. bill hasn't lost his affinity for the drone, but this time around he seems more willing to let it play a supporting role instead of having it run the entire show. overall, bill and suzanne seem to have taken a much more musical approach in the making of if the devil's in the details, and that work has paid off immensely. the big payoff would have to be in replayability. by inversing the focus and relegating the more ambient aspects to the background, the duo allow themselves to make the music, instead of just adding to it. as a result, their work here is very layered. there's almost always quite a few things going on at once and while you might not catch everything the first time (or times) around, they start to reveal themselves. additionally, they provide plenty memorable tracks: every minute of everyday someone is having an apocalypse, nothing ever begins, ends or changes that much, every morning is a gift and a complete lack of charisma and/or talent, being my favorites. there's not much hope to be found in the song titles on this one, but in terms of their music, these two have a lot to be optimistic about.
music aside, the other big change that i find here is the drastically improved production. improved not only in overall sound, but there's a lot more going on with the two stereo channels, and seeing how this a more layered affair, i'd say that it was done masterfully. kudos for the very nice packaging, too. the devil certainly is in the details.
the dvd that's included has six videos of songs from the album, but i don't have a dvd player, so i can't speak on their added value. right now i'm technologically declined, sorry.
Nothing Ever Begins, Ends Or Changes That Much
[2006, oks recordings of north america]
if the devil's in the details, perhaps attempting to challenge fiona apple's crown for most verbose album title, is pli's second effort, again issued on their own oks label. thankfully, all comparisons with ms. apple end there (she did have some good songs though). i reviewed pli's backwards, broken and incorrectly disc awhile back, but if your memory isn't too great, i'll help you out: they're a husband and wife duo out of brooklyn, ny. bill byrne handles the electronics, vocals, field recordings and all instrumentation that isn't the cello or that doesn't involve percussion, suzanne takes care of those.
what a difference a year has made for the painful leg injuries. 2005's backwards, broken and incorrectly, while it was a solid album, centered primarily around drones and cold soundscapes, familiar territory for many an ambient techno project. they've raised the bar considerably for themselves on this one. bill hasn't lost his affinity for the drone, but this time around he seems more willing to let it play a supporting role instead of having it run the entire show. overall, bill and suzanne seem to have taken a much more musical approach in the making of if the devil's in the details, and that work has paid off immensely. the big payoff would have to be in replayability. by inversing the focus and relegating the more ambient aspects to the background, the duo allow themselves to make the music, instead of just adding to it. as a result, their work here is very layered. there's almost always quite a few things going on at once and while you might not catch everything the first time (or times) around, they start to reveal themselves. additionally, they provide plenty memorable tracks: every minute of everyday someone is having an apocalypse, nothing ever begins, ends or changes that much, every morning is a gift and a complete lack of charisma and/or talent, being my favorites. there's not much hope to be found in the song titles on this one, but in terms of their music, these two have a lot to be optimistic about.
music aside, the other big change that i find here is the drastically improved production. improved not only in overall sound, but there's a lot more going on with the two stereo channels, and seeing how this a more layered affair, i'd say that it was done masterfully. kudos for the very nice packaging, too. the devil certainly is in the details.
the dvd that's included has six videos of songs from the album, but i don't have a dvd player, so i can't speak on their added value. right now i'm technologically declined, sorry.
Nothing Ever Begins, Ends Or Changes That Much
:: posted by avant gardening, 9:23 PM