Saturday, May 09, 2009
dragging an ox through water
the tropics of phenomenon
[2009, freedom to spend]
this disc is the third release on peter swanson's fts label and it follows a pair which i thoroughly enjoyed in bulbs' light ships and yellow swans' drowner, so i was looking forward to checking out (the previously unknown to me) dragging an ox through water (pdx's brian
mumford). swanson's well-written press sheet certainly helped to stoke the fire of my anticipation...
the minute long opener, i would understand, serves as a base introduction to daotw's modus operandi with its blend of acoustic folk coupled with electronic dissonance (in this instance, by way of multiple layers of erratic electric guitar chords). overall, it's a good set-up for tropics of phenomenon's (released last year as a 12" on awesome vistas) imperative organic / inorganic relationship as well as its juxtaposition of noise / experimentation with, what i'd call, indie-folk.
snowbank treatment, which begins with unabated bass drum kicks, is, by leaps and bounds, this disc's highlight. that is to say, its catchiest and most accessible. it also sees his electronic hybrid working together the most congruently. there's a bit of acoustic stringwork that plays a companion role to the simple beat and matching cymbal taps, while the rest of the song is filled out by melodic (and otherwise pleasant) electronic elements. his adventurous leanings are held closely at bay, allowing snowbank to simply exist as a bouncy electronic-folk song without any other trappings.
with the two parter a.) the unbearable dumbness of being (take that milan kundera) b.) earthen airlock, mumford will distance himself from any semblance of structure, beginning the track by manipulating a musical loop and then jumping from that into low droning, joined by a winding distorted buzz, and then eventually rising out of that with low-key field recordings (from an actual field, sounds like) along with minimal electronic additions.
it's back to basics, somewhat, with dice smiles, though the singing now is sedated, and, by extension, less impactful (despite containing the lyric "ya have dreams shit all over your face"). the flute, which comes in between the verses, at least provides a little melodic oasis amidst the song's barren landscape.
following five seconds of silence (pause), comes, arguably, phenomenon's most ambitious offering, predictions. for the first time we get legitimate noise in addition to the folky vocals. unfortunately, all this does for me, is shine a bright light on how unnecessary brian's singing is in this kind of setting. if you're into noise, the vocals will most likely detract from that. if you dig folk, the discord is surely not going to do you any favors. i might not be saying the same thing if there was a hook, or something particularly striking about the vocals... but i'm just not hearing it.
dragging an ox through water is more successful when he's not so far-reaching, such as with the more conventional songs like snowbank treatment, and this seventh track, houses and homonculi, though this one does have a noisy edge to its airy strumming in the form of high, pitch-shifting tones serving as the bridge. this time that addition feels natural, clearly more so than on predictions; however, you should take into account the fact that its occurrence is briefer and carefully mixed in, all of which alludes to a harsher sound without actually being forceful enough to scare off the faint of ear.
the concise lilacs sprang from these apes' brains (shut down all u.s. torture facilities) pretty much exists just so brian would be able to utter that entire line while being accompanied by music. he'll follow that up by striking an evener balance between uptempo acoustic guitar and experimental electronics with devil's prayer, but, again, the bulk of the experimental part of that will be relegated to a stopgap in between the verses.
not harping on powers serves as a callback to predictions in not only its integration of noisier aspects, but also in the addition of (male) backing vocals, which only pop up on these two tracks. powers isn't as abrasive as its companion piece, a good deal of the noise sounds like it's produced by affected electric guitar, so, here, the divide between the noise and brian's singer-songwriter styling isn't quite as disjunct.
honestly, based on the praise for this that i've seen in a couple of different places, i might be the only one who doesn't think that this is a gift sent down from the heavens... which astounds me because i like noise, pop and folk more than most people, i think. there's definitely parts of this that are appealing: mumford's got a great voice that seems tailor-made for music of an americana / folk vein, he's shown that he has a head for rhythm and melody as well as noise... but the sum of what he's doing just doesn't add up for me. as much as i like the sound of his voice, with scant memorability in the lyrical department (and melody-wise, he's either hit or indifference) his whole noise / folk amalgamation comes of like high-concept kitsch. i can see why people are diggin' this, but there's already someone who has mixed (better) catchy folk with (better) noise, more sincerely, and his name is kites (or christopher forgues, if you want to be precise). so, i'll just stick with peace trials, but, hey, that's just me.
Not Harping on Powers
Predictions, by DAOTW @ PDX Pop Now!; Portland, OR 2008
[2009, freedom to spend]
this disc is the third release on peter swanson's fts label and it follows a pair which i thoroughly enjoyed in bulbs' light ships and yellow swans' drowner, so i was looking forward to checking out (the previously unknown to me) dragging an ox through water (pdx's brian
mumford). swanson's well-written press sheet certainly helped to stoke the fire of my anticipation...the minute long opener, i would understand, serves as a base introduction to daotw's modus operandi with its blend of acoustic folk coupled with electronic dissonance (in this instance, by way of multiple layers of erratic electric guitar chords). overall, it's a good set-up for tropics of phenomenon's (released last year as a 12" on awesome vistas) imperative organic / inorganic relationship as well as its juxtaposition of noise / experimentation with, what i'd call, indie-folk.
snowbank treatment, which begins with unabated bass drum kicks, is, by leaps and bounds, this disc's highlight. that is to say, its catchiest and most accessible. it also sees his electronic hybrid working together the most congruently. there's a bit of acoustic stringwork that plays a companion role to the simple beat and matching cymbal taps, while the rest of the song is filled out by melodic (and otherwise pleasant) electronic elements. his adventurous leanings are held closely at bay, allowing snowbank to simply exist as a bouncy electronic-folk song without any other trappings.
with the two parter a.) the unbearable dumbness of being (take that milan kundera) b.) earthen airlock, mumford will distance himself from any semblance of structure, beginning the track by manipulating a musical loop and then jumping from that into low droning, joined by a winding distorted buzz, and then eventually rising out of that with low-key field recordings (from an actual field, sounds like) along with minimal electronic additions.
it's back to basics, somewhat, with dice smiles, though the singing now is sedated, and, by extension, less impactful (despite containing the lyric "ya have dreams shit all over your face"). the flute, which comes in between the verses, at least provides a little melodic oasis amidst the song's barren landscape.
following five seconds of silence (pause), comes, arguably, phenomenon's most ambitious offering, predictions. for the first time we get legitimate noise in addition to the folky vocals. unfortunately, all this does for me, is shine a bright light on how unnecessary brian's singing is in this kind of setting. if you're into noise, the vocals will most likely detract from that. if you dig folk, the discord is surely not going to do you any favors. i might not be saying the same thing if there was a hook, or something particularly striking about the vocals... but i'm just not hearing it.
dragging an ox through water is more successful when he's not so far-reaching, such as with the more conventional songs like snowbank treatment, and this seventh track, houses and homonculi, though this one does have a noisy edge to its airy strumming in the form of high, pitch-shifting tones serving as the bridge. this time that addition feels natural, clearly more so than on predictions; however, you should take into account the fact that its occurrence is briefer and carefully mixed in, all of which alludes to a harsher sound without actually being forceful enough to scare off the faint of ear.the concise lilacs sprang from these apes' brains (shut down all u.s. torture facilities) pretty much exists just so brian would be able to utter that entire line while being accompanied by music. he'll follow that up by striking an evener balance between uptempo acoustic guitar and experimental electronics with devil's prayer, but, again, the bulk of the experimental part of that will be relegated to a stopgap in between the verses.
not harping on powers serves as a callback to predictions in not only its integration of noisier aspects, but also in the addition of (male) backing vocals, which only pop up on these two tracks. powers isn't as abrasive as its companion piece, a good deal of the noise sounds like it's produced by affected electric guitar, so, here, the divide between the noise and brian's singer-songwriter styling isn't quite as disjunct.
honestly, based on the praise for this that i've seen in a couple of different places, i might be the only one who doesn't think that this is a gift sent down from the heavens... which astounds me because i like noise, pop and folk more than most people, i think. there's definitely parts of this that are appealing: mumford's got a great voice that seems tailor-made for music of an americana / folk vein, he's shown that he has a head for rhythm and melody as well as noise... but the sum of what he's doing just doesn't add up for me. as much as i like the sound of his voice, with scant memorability in the lyrical department (and melody-wise, he's either hit or indifference) his whole noise / folk amalgamation comes of like high-concept kitsch. i can see why people are diggin' this, but there's already someone who has mixed (better) catchy folk with (better) noise, more sincerely, and his name is kites (or christopher forgues, if you want to be precise). so, i'll just stick with peace trials, but, hey, that's just me.Not Harping on Powers
:: posted by avant gardening, 11:09 AM
1 Comments:
Hey guys, I have to make sure that you don't do reviews, cause I see no contact address. Wanted to send you 3 CDs from Semperflorens (see my URL) which are quite fitting for the profile of your zine/blog. Contact me at dor1m3dont@gmail.com if interested.
Alright, thanks.
Doru
Alright, thanks.
Doru
