This is not my normal type of music. This freeform RIO type of stuff often turns me off. There are moments on this disc where I feel that way, but much of this works quite well. Make no mistake – this is quite weird. It’s also quite cool.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2008 Volume 5 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
Nestle This comes in tentatively. It rises very gradually. Then we get a false ending and chimey sounds come up from there. Eventually other elements join and this resembles the intro again. It rises up further than it did before and we get hints of melody here and there. Percussion takes over the mix later on, but we still don’t rise very far, at least at first. Eventually this becomes more noisy.
Some Where As weird as this is, it’s also quite intriguing. There are some things here that remind me of King Crimson. Weird music that’s still catchy is interspersed with processed vocals at times. Odd as this is I like it a lot.
Chit Chat This is another that’s rather noisy, but still quite interesting. At times this has an almost 1960’s psychedelic feeling to it. They move it out towards space at times and percussion drives much of this cut.
After Percussion starts things off here. While that element retains a “front and center” role other musical textures bring in some funk and types of weirdness. This is another that’s actually quite tasty despite its off-kilter approach. It turns pretty noisy before they eventually end it.
Rooted Tendril If the percussion drove the last one it purely dominates this track with an iron fist. There are other sounds here, but overall this is a drumming showcase. I do like the echoey guitar and other sounds, though.
Suitable Time They just about lose me on this one. Odd echoey effects and in your face percussion serves to create a noisy track that has some things in common with surf music but is way too weird to be mistaken for that genre.
Swivelling Down In some ways this is similar to the last one, but the echoey feedback laden guitar sounds make me think of Jimi Hendrix. This is one of the highlights of the disc in my opinion. There is one bit on this that calls to mind some of the spacey weirdness on Judas Priest’s debut disc Rocka Rolla.
In Word In Tension This piece of weirdness is similar to the last cut, but not as effective. It’s alright, but a weak point on the CD. That’s partly because it’s just too much like the track that preceded it.
A Favorable Direction Starting with a distant voice, singing/shouting, “I’m a drunk sailor lost at sea / There’s nothing more you can say about me,” that portion seems like something from Hawkwind. The noisy yet open sounds that come after this feel drunk, but also a bit like early Hawkwind meets freeform jazz. They turn this out later to an almost blues jam and then shift to some Hendrix-like territory.
