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I
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Sounds To Soothe A Nervous
Robot
Festival ot Failure
PROVIDENCE
27.4.97 EP
Little Army
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND
Before These Crowded Streets
RCA
When not dropping his pants and
delecalmg on the likes ol Pearl Jam in
Ihese pages, sometimes Flagpole con
tributor and Atlanta resident Henry
Owings runs indie-rock's preeminent
global 'zine ol outspoken sell-loathing
and rock-dude Jacobinism, which goes
by the name ol Chunklet Look lor a new,
fun-lilled issue on newsstands soon
When ne$ not wearing his publish
ing magnate hat. Owings runs the
record company lormerly known as
Drug Racer — he recently changed it to
‘Little Army’ and released this CD, con
sisting of about 18 minutes of sheer
noise recorded a! the 1997 Terraslock
festival in Providence, RI
When I lirst heard about this CD, I
wasn't very eager to play it 1975 saw
the reieas*’ ol Li u Ranis Metal Machine
Music a limit- alburt • pure l ,i ed
back Irom here where g you go'' One.*
someone hangs a white anvas in &
gallery wtiafs th- uv- o* hanginganoth-
e' while i.a'vas'
Provider*!* it urns nui is a bi’ ‘it a
different beast V f f>,*.< M.'ac f ne Musu if
1 retail correct^ ms: let the sound wan
der olf un its own This record linds
members ot Bardo Pond Windy & Carl
Flying Saucer Attack and Azusa Plane
carelully controlling (sculpting, really)
two electric wails of noise with distinct
textures, challenges, and pockmarks —
climbing walls of noise, il you will
And you very well may not You
may value the concept of. say. songs II
you can gel past this prejudice and get
this EP on a large stereo playing quite
loud, you may find the emperor wearing
clothes, and your hair standing on the
back of your neck Thais not to say you
won t find yourself facing that much-
maligned though enduring criticism ol
Ihe more theoretical forms of visual art
of this century — that is. that ‘anyone
can do il* Here's to you il you do
Lesler Bangs once wrote. * some
day. God willing. I may get to do my
own Metal Machine Music It's all folk
music, anyway ’ Quite a lew ol the folks
on the more experimental end ot the
Athens music scene have come together
to release Sounds to Soothe A Nervous
Robot, a collection ol tracks best
described as annoying ambient All
groups represented — Melted Men.
Japancakes. Dixie Blood Moustache,
etc — stay as far away from appeals to
the emotions as Providence ventures
close It's a smartly-packaged album of
found sounds bleeps and bloops.
croaking trogs, snippets of piano-lesson
piano playing it's Ihe sod ot stuff trip-
hop kids would lease you with tor a
while before putting a big lal beat on top
ol it il is not like Ihe drum-free, pulsing
experiments of Aphex Twin or Oval —
and l lend to preler tha! stuff to the more
unstructured / Chmg stofl here But then
again. I've always preferred Ihe overtly
pretty work ol Philip Glass lo the hap
penstance clatlerings ol John Cage —
call me a sap It you're interested in Ihe
very fringe of the Athens scene, this
one's tor you. though you might be bet
ter served to see bands like Meda^ha
D'Oro live
As intentionally annoying as some
to Ihe tracks on Nervous Robot are.
none approach the monumental
achievement ol Dave Matthews new
CD. Before These Crowded Streets The
only artist currently mak-ng pop music
as clumsily, painfully pasliched as this
is Shama Twain — and at least Shama
offers up (admittedly take) glimpses of a
good ole girl oul for a rootin' loolin
nigh! on the town The sheer ineptitude
ot Matthews as a songwriter and
ar anger offers no hope of fun weird
tune signatures and the use ol violin are
supposed to make this ‘smart-’ and
therefore, ‘college-' or ‘aiterna-* rock
but book smarts rarely make for rock
smads I d rather listen to Puff Daddy
nicking David Bowie* than have to sutler
throuqh this albums joyless Berkiee
School ot Music drumming w *h it
emphasis on techmqu* and complete
'if < q? feet
Matthews fnmsolt Sam ••• < «
ab't jiv t«jt he cmitdnt write a tjm d
pop nook to save his H< H«s com;
tions ait* all bu:-:y-r**ss but r*Niv,r-ot,
ta;' f o di rh< ; 'imar» work r* ; ;
JS achieve nothing
Providences •miotonal grandeur
ttMiqh hie, Wi>r» si ,r . .b nan*-'
the Army Bn* i 1 4 Alta
Os-•••*»' St Athens GA.10605
Ridwrd Faussef
SONIC YOUTH
A Thousand Leaves
DGC
So you've been waiting several
years now. with only a lew experimental
EPs to sustain you. tor the reiurn of Ihe
mighty roar of Sonic Youth You antici
pate brilliance in harmony and discord
and expect lo be rocked down to the
soles of your soul And here comes the
lion now. Ihe lull-length A Thousand
Leaves, magniliceni and thorny But the
lion doesnl roar Hes just crunched the
bones ot a cute little baby antelope and
his belly is warm satisfied, and making
him very, very sleepy
Dreamy underwater electromca is
probably not what you ve been waiting
and hoping tor but repealed listening
quickly tears out the subtlety ot masters
at theu craft The title. "A Thousand
Leave 1 comes from the band's pact to
quit making mu.v after their thousandth
... " ft to go. fl
think ......
ir depm Wc t vqnfl
: ' 'vmq i.i !;?•✓*• ' *(■ ,ini vw«' ,
ttat • a
but . >t ’ ay U ' ' a : iy bsatip '
tm ; ’pan." : •i.ued and tbreatn-
’■ * ■ *.' a* .1
have c iluiiird a ."ant -jmetune
whispery cro n a !a Dtaniond Jyia :
Km. Gordon leLin^ an edgy nastn-
tha! should quen the fears ol Hu faith-
less She seems to explore her own
voice as latest instrument of choice to
twist and shape into something new
There are eleven tracks, three over
10 minutes long, and unlike Ihe recent
spate ol EPs all have vocals (and none
have credited guest artists) Most songs
are predominantly mellow with long
slow builds to discordant crescendos,
but these don't last and generally wind
back down into a smooth and layered
chiming The music is complex and
turns on a dime with amazing transi
tions. but don't expect anything catchy
Expect something that will amaze you
Quietly
Cindy Jerrell
TRANQUILITY BASS
Beep 1
Astralwerks Records
In the somewhat overpopulated
world ol electromca these days, it's nice
to hear something that stands oul The
last release Irom techno guru Mike
Kandeis Tranquility Bass proiect. Let the
Freak Flag Fly. was a refreshing depar
ture from ihe electro-fueled beats and
loops ol his contemporaries Blurring
the edges between trip-hop. folk, hippie
rock and various ethnic/world music
styles. Let the Freak Flag Fly was one ol
fast
yea's most unusual elect ft mi
it. offer-
mgs
B-ep" is t> '•* remiv:
s trotr
Fre.
tk rij'j u i jjitig 'emu*-
• from
• ■■
lei’s par? T n '
•he-
, mo tt- l*-Q*T«fjar. mis'
■ Dfttijr.
A ‘ • ' , •
*;>;iearetl • ; i.ahv / the albun la
Ld .a s a bourn , funky downlempo
dance number that features Latm-fla
vored guitar and percussion over a phaf
hip-hop groove, as 'well as a gorgeous
Middle Eastern chanl-ltke melody that
floats among the layers Tom Chasfeens
‘Gimme Another One ol Those Bong
Breakin' Hippie Beats* remix contains
many ol Ihe same flavors as the original
at first but then is completely over
hauled witn turntable scratches and
mellow keyboards
With Kandeis soulful remix ol *We
All Want to Be Free * Ihe listener can
almost smell Ihe gania smoke among
the swirling guitars and handclaps
However. Ultramarine's remix ot Ihe
same tune left me cold — the repetitive
drum loops and synthesizer twiddling
aeded absolutely nothing to Ihe original
The highlight of 'Bleep 1 * has got to
be Fatboy Slims bangin' remix o! ’La La
La * Slim sucks the listener in with
tasteful cul-ups of the original vocal
melodies over a hypnotic sitar loop
before introducing one of his trademark
talback beats. The song is further
enhanced by Fatboy's penchani lor mix
ing electronic sounds wiin more rocking
textures, as Hendrix-style backwards
guitar loops are introduced lo the slew
For those already taken with TB
8eep ! is a must have For others. Freak
Flag is still the best introduction
Chris Morns
m
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