Saturday, March 10, 2007
six heads
ether c20
[2007, psychform]
six heads (one of far too many aliases of theirs) are a toronto-based avant-experimental sextet consisting of james bailey, william davison, linda feesey, sherri lyn higgins, colin hinz and pete mosher. according to their website their purpose is exploration of audio surrealism via improvisation, sound collage, experimental instruments and approaches. the surrealist vibe you can pick up on just by looking at the artwork for the tape. as far as their actual musical approach goes, they use a bevy, oh and i do mean bevy, of instrumentation, including found objects, proper instruments and homemade devices.
from what i'd been reading about six heads [only five heads pictured], i was expecting some sort of grab whatever's closest to you and start banging on it at the same time kind of thing, but a side's the fog 
collectors is haunting and wisely held back. the field recordings in the beginning put you right there in the thick of that foggy frame of mind and whatever instrumentation they're adding to it only heightens the sense. the electronic humming and what could either be a whistle or another wind instrument of some sort during the latter minutes is a nice change of pace.
twilight tubing opens up with some memorable, spread out, electric guitar chords over a suuuper minimal backdrop. as it continues along the initial guitar is relegated to subdued background wails as another guitar enters the fray. there's a small bit of crowd noise near the end of the piece, which is an interesting inclusion, but that's over with nearly as fast as it began, then we're back to nice ambiance, easing our exit out of the tape.
out of the entire psychform package that i received, ether was the one i was the most curious about, and i came out of the experience very impressed. six people making not very much noise, but doing a great job of it. if you like atmospheric music with some actual substance that you can latch onto, this should do the trick.
Twilight's Tubing Excerpt (from 0:00 to 2:52)
[2007, psychform]
six heads (one of far too many aliases of theirs) are a toronto-based avant-experimental sextet consisting of james bailey, william davison, linda feesey, sherri lyn higgins, colin hinz and pete mosher. according to their website their purpose is exploration of audio surrealism via improvisation, sound collage, experimental instruments and approaches. the surrealist vibe you can pick up on just by looking at the artwork for the tape. as far as their actual musical approach goes, they use a bevy, oh and i do mean bevy, of instrumentation, including found objects, proper instruments and homemade devices.
from what i'd been reading about six heads [only five heads pictured], i was expecting some sort of grab whatever's closest to you and start banging on it at the same time kind of thing, but a side's the fog 
collectors is haunting and wisely held back. the field recordings in the beginning put you right there in the thick of that foggy frame of mind and whatever instrumentation they're adding to it only heightens the sense. the electronic humming and what could either be a whistle or another wind instrument of some sort during the latter minutes is a nice change of pace.twilight tubing opens up with some memorable, spread out, electric guitar chords over a suuuper minimal backdrop. as it continues along the initial guitar is relegated to subdued background wails as another guitar enters the fray. there's a small bit of crowd noise near the end of the piece, which is an interesting inclusion, but that's over with nearly as fast as it began, then we're back to nice ambiance, easing our exit out of the tape.
out of the entire psychform package that i received, ether was the one i was the most curious about, and i came out of the experience very impressed. six people making not very much noise, but doing a great job of it. if you like atmospheric music with some actual substance that you can latch onto, this should do the trick.
Twilight's Tubing Excerpt (from 0:00 to 2:52)
:: posted by avant gardening, 11:57 AM
2 Comments:
Thanks for the review, Avant. Much appreciated.
In case anyone out there is interested, the photo shows: me (James) in the lower left corner, William at the mixer, Colin sitting on a speaker cabinet, Sherri in the chair, and Linda standing at the right. Peter *is* in the picture; he's the white blob poking out from Sherri's forehead. Then again, it could be a visiting alien from Yopo Gigflarp.
In case anyone out there is interested, the photo shows: me (James) in the lower left corner, William at the mixer, Colin sitting on a speaker cabinet, Sherri in the chair, and Linda standing at the right. Peter *is* in the picture; he's the white blob poking out from Sherri's forehead. Then again, it could be a visiting alien from Yopo Gigflarp.
ha, you're right. it took me a minute of supreme concentration, but i can see Peter now.
thanks for checking out the review, James!
thanks for checking out the review, James!
