On Tue, 18 Feb 1997, Christopher William Niemitz wrote:
o}I just spotted a disc (2disc?) on the Japanese Thrill
o}Jockey label & was curious if anyone heard this
o}& can review it...
first off, thrill jockey is based in chicago, not japan. in the
past year they've been putting out incredible stuff including domestic
releases of oval and microstoria. as for trans-am:
their first LP, which is self-titled, is decent--to me it sounds
tortoise-ish with less effects. they are definitely recognizable as a
band with guitars, unlike tortoise most of the time, yet the song
structure is minimal and hypnotic, so don't let the word "guitars" scare
you off if you're a hard-core IDMer. the songs on this album are all
pleasant but tend to run together.
on their compilation appearances, trans-am tend to be more
experimental, for instance, check out their track on the mille plateaux
_gilles deleuze_ comp. this is definitely the way they have headed with
their new LP, _surrender to the night_, which i would highly recommend if
you want to get some transam. my girlfriend got it a couple of weeks
ago--it's the bomb. styles are all over the place, from noise collage and
g-funk slink to metal crunch and soaring harmony. plus, it's not an
import, so you can get it cheap... she got it new for $10, and it is
full-length. this new one is also far more electronic than the last, and
has several tracks i am planning on spinning out. "cologne" in
particular.
r|b|s