Lida Husik/Beaumont Hannant "Evening at the Grange"
Promenade 4:53
Textured 6:14
Now I'm Older Silver Girl 5:20
Gregory Peck 3:59
Starburst 7 5:45
Not dance music per se, but this does mark the first US domestic release by
Beaumont Hannant. I hope this indicates that Astralwerks plans to release
others works by BH.
This isn't dance music. Ms. Husik is more from the Jane Siberry/Tori Amos
school of singer songwriting, but without the preciousness of the former or
the histrionics of the latter. Kind of a Knitting Factory sort of folk singer.
Her warm contralto is mixed forward, often with double-tracked harmony.
The songs (Promenade, Now I'm Older, Silver Girl and Gregory Peck) that
Husik dominates are very listenable, but they're, well, songs, and readers
of this group probably aren't that interested.
Of primary interest to IDM'ers will be 'Textured' and 'Starburst 7'. The
former sounds like Hannant material from 'texturology' that has been reworked
to integrate Husik's vocals. The latter has a 115BPM (estimate) hip-hoppy
shuffle beat, over which Husik's voice floats lazily. The vamped vocal outro
for the last two minutes is beautifully hypnotic, with a flangey wah-wah
organ worked in underneath.
There an attitude of emotional cool that pervades all the songs. The lyrics
have a low key ironic tone. Where they are emotional, it's emotion described
or commented on ironically, rather than felt. This intellectual remove is
belied and redeemed by the warmth of Husik's voice, but to paraphase Air
Liquide, this is a head trip, not a body journey.
Verdict? I find this engaging, listenable music. A good antidote to TB303
overdose.
--
Kent Williams kent@cadsi.com
"Swirling a sound [in Quadrophonic Space] at an audio rate produces interesting
spatial and modulative effects" -- Serge Modular Product Spec Sheet.