Those familiar with Mouse Parade's previous releases (I have the Fat Cat 12") or
anything by the Dylan Group (of which Adam Pierce, who is Mouse Parade, is one
member) will know pretty much what to expect from the new album on Bubblecore,
Ramda.
It's eclectic live breakbeat, post-rock (or whadevah), globally-inspired and
beautifully executed, this despite the fact that Pierce's liner notes stress the
fact that everything was recorded in one take (although with massive amounts of
multitracking) - an impressive achievement.
The Dylan Group are known for their drums'n'vibraphone take on live techno. With
Mouse Parade, the horizons are widened to take in all sorts of other sounds:
--beautiful floaty guitar-and-loop stuff on tracks 2 & 3 for instance,
--lots of minimalism-inspired pieces (the song title "More Music for Mallets,
Voices & Organ [and other stuff]" being a homage to Steve Reich (and possibly
Bartok))
--some studio trickery - on track 2 the acoustic guitars go off into a long
loop, then reverse and plunge back into motion with the drum track entering with
a surprising groove, which itself changes tack to something more drum'n'bassy in
the middle. "The Lonely Lounge Piano Player's Lost In His Little World" is
basically a long piano improvisation, but in the middle the tape gets slowed
down and sped up in a fashion that should annoy me but actually works rather
well, and a chopped up drum'n'bass beat enters for a while somewhere.
This is music as often hypnotic, yet as diverse and fresh as anything currently
available. Anyone into Fridge and Four Tet, Tortoise, Nobukazu Takemura, and
indeed anyone not familiar with those sounds, should check it out at the
earliest opportunity. One of the most-listened-to releases I've purchased
recently. No reason why the fact that it's mostly acoustic/live instruments
should stop it from being idm; it fits in perfectly with more obviously
this-listy music.
Cheers,
Peter.
--
Peter Hollo raven@fourplay.com.au
http://www.fourplay.com.au/me.html
FourPlay - Eclectic Electric String Quartet
http://www.fourplay.com.au
Raven: experimental electronic
http://www.fourplay.com.au/sound.html
"Of course, dance music can be a music where you lie on your back and
your brain cells dance" -Michael Karoli of Can, quoted in Wire mag.
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