Can't wait to hear it properly when it finally arrives.....
10/10 Jim from Norman Records: I really hoped this was going to be a load of shite. There was something so predictably laudable about the fallen angel of easy-listening pop teaming up with the group who’d helped drag underground metal into the light of critical approval that I couldn’t help willing the venture to fail miserably. The fact that the usual channels of hype went into delirious overdrive in slathering anticipation of such an odd yet somehow logical union only increased my antipathy towards the whole thing.
It’s not that I dislike either of the artists involved either: Scott Walker’s transition from pop’s most depressed crooner to ever inhabit a bed of luxuriant arrangements, to a kind of dark avatar haunting some of the most starkly disconcerting soundscapes this side of Xenakis is undeniably compelling. Likewise, who could ever deny the uniquely intense sonic physicality of Sunn O))) live, where you can literally feel every torturous dissonance coursing through your body? So I guess my misgivings had more to do with Stephen O’Malley and co.’s increasing ubiquity, as well as the fact that Walker’s defection from popular success to avant garde difficultness is all too often invoked as a pathological move; a kind of small victory for the losers.
And so it pains me slightly to have to report that ‘Soused’ is as annoyingly brilliant as all the hype merchants predicted. Just before I came to reviewing it I was warned that the opener almost threatens to break into ‘Sweet Child O Mine’. Which it does, with Walker’s baritone unusually expansive over gospely organs and the suggestive melody of a cock-rockish lead guitar. But this alarmingly light-filled intro soon gives way to a deliciously dense drone, menacingly adorned with stroboscopic helicopter rotors and rhythmical whip-cracks, as Walker’s sings in melancholy rapture about ‘a beating’ that will do him ‘ a world of good’.
The thing that’s so arresting about this opening track, and the album as a whole, is the vividness and originality of the arrangements. The bosun’s whistle that sounds forlornly across the desolate backing gives the track an almost martial feel, while the whiplash rhythm is just genius, particularly for a track that was inspired by Marlon Brando’s penchant for roles that repeatedly involved taking one hell of a hiding. And so we see there’s even a perverse sense of humour lurking beneath the po-faced gravitas, because let’s face it: masochistic desire is something that fans of either Sunn O))) or Walker’s late work should be able to relate to.
The second track, ‘Herod’ is every bit as epic as its title suggests. It starts with the monotonous ringing of a bell, like the sounding of the alarm in a medieval village as a pillaging horde approaches. Then we have the electronic rotor blades again, ushering in a more aggressive drone that's punctuated with an unfathomably brutish, doomladen motif. Elsewhere in the mix we have low stretched-out moans and the primitive screams of what sound like baby elephants being hacked to death. And in the midst of all this Walker relates some of his darkest poetry yet; singing about a mother hiding away her children from some imminent mortal threat, which shifts during the course of the song’s twelve minutes from Herod’s infanticidal army, to a Stasi ‘goon’ and even disease carrying flies- a horrifying scenario that is not very far removed from events we can see reported on our television screens every night. And again, it’s the visionary brilliance of the arrangements that makes the track so potent, plunging the listener into a series of starkly contrasting pools of sound; from the biblical savagery of the opening verse to taut stillness, pulsating womb music, screaming pandemonium and back again.
The three remaining tracks of the album are just as startling and rich, giving a sense that, as with all of Walker’s mature stuff, this is an album you could dig deep into and still come back to it in years and find new surprises. But most surprising of all is the fact that, despite the intimidating reputation of the artists involved, the album is so artfully constructed that it never feels like an endurance test.
I have not been in here for some time so I am just doing a bit of catching up. I liked most of the music on this album; I liked the mood that was captured and portrayed.
To be is to do: Socrates
To do is to be: Sartre
Do be do be do: Sinatra
I have not been in here for some time so I am just doing a bit of catching up. I liked most of the music on this album; I liked the mood that was captured and portrayed.
The physical edition can be preordered (with a lovelier image) below Fergus. Also 'Retold' by Nest is another preorder you should consider. Just doing my bit :)
The physical edition can be preordered (with a lovelier image) below Fergus. Also 'Retold' by Nest is another preorder you should consider. Just doing my bit :)
jadarin wrote:
Dermot,
I got a copy of the Nest album from Boomkat last night.On to my fifth or sixth listen.Great stuff!
Nice :) God only knows when the Lp edition finally surfaces :( It's down for release sometime this this month. I have mine on preorder direct from the label since early Summer! No matter it'll be worth the wait.....
Thought I'd put this link here. I only accidentally discovered this very worthwhile Irish label when a strange compilation on vinyl in Tower caught my eye, namely 'Sonic Vigil 6'. Read all about them below....
The Sonic Vigil LP is presented in a full colour gatefold sleeve, printed on uncoated board. The edition is limited to just 250 copies, each one pressed on seductive blue vinyl. The package design is by Doreen Kennedy.
The LP provides a useful overview of some of the many current practicioners in the field of new music and sound art - a must have LP for your collection. The LP also comes with a digital download token included inside each copy.
This very special limited edition features fourteen tracks recorded during Sonic Vigil 6 at Triskel Christchurch. There are contributions by national and international artists such as Andreas Bick (DE), Karen Power and Jeff Weeter (IRL/USA), Merzouga (DE), Robin Parmar (IRL/CAN), The Mersk Collective (IRL), Gunter Berkus (DE), Liam Slevin and Kevin Tuohy (IRL), John Godfrey (IRL), Francis Heery (IRL), Harry Moore (IRL), and Tom Lawrence (IRL) amongst others.
Sonic Vigil is a Cork-based initiative run by The Quiet Club (Danny McCarthy and Mick O'Shea). The group have presented curated experimental new music events for the past few years in venues across Cork city, including Triskel Christchurch and St. Anne's Church. This edition of Sonic Vigil was co-curated by the Gruenrekorder label. This LP is dedicated to Tom Lawrence. With thanks to Mike Harding at Touch and Roland Etzin and Lasse-Marc Riek at Gruenrekorder. Special thanks to Cork Artists Collective for their help with this project.
Thanks Fergus,Great to see someone besides Dermot samples my selections..
I enjoy dropping in here from time to time. I may not always understand what I am hearing but I do like to sample new types of music; one can always learn something.
So, a big thank you to yourself, Dermot and any other contributors for maintaining this alternative thread.
To be is to do: Socrates
To do is to be: Sartre
Do be do be do: Sinatra
Thanks Fergus,Great to see someone besides Dermot samples my selections..
I enjoy dropping in here from time to time. I may not always understand what I am hearing but I do like to sample new types of music; one can always learn something. So, a big thank you to yourself, Dermot and any other contributors for maintaining this alternative thread.
Very nice of you to say so Fergus! But......at the same time, as you've said so many times yourself, don't encourage me lol!
