Has anyone heard the above, titled "Freedom Fighter," I think? Looks
excellent, but I've been hesitant about BE after listening to two of their
albums and finding myself listening to essentially the same songs. So, I
didn't buy this, but I did buy
The Third Eye Foundation: You Guys Kill Me
My experience with 3ef is limited; I've heard "Ghost," I think it was,
which mixed stripped down raw drumnbass breaks with a healthy dose of
noise-distortion-guitar, this latter part similar to f.s.a. (new lp review
below). Those familiar with You Guys... will no doubt understand my
surprise: the noise has been replaced with what I would call "soul," as in
the music. Witness the groove, mixed with lovely guitar drone. Adding to
the instrumentation, there are string arrangements on almost every track,
however supplementary. The breaks are for the most part downtempo, with
dnb fills added here and there; there is much less of a tense feeling to
this album, more dark, brooding, and at times comical (see song titles,
for example "there's a fight at the end of the tunnel", "lions writing the
bible", etc.). There are a few tracks with a solid dnb tempo throughout,
which is enjoyable and lacking in the 128th note early squarepusher/drill
n bass dross, thankfully. If you enjoy obscure melodies, nu skool soul,
hip hop/dnb beatery, and interesting cover art, look for this lp. The
closing track and single off the album, "In Bristol With A Pistol" won't
dissapoint, except in its brevity (under 3 minutes)--the single lists the
track with the addendum "the full 9mm," which is almost enough info to
warrant purchase.
Flying Saucer Attack: Mirror
First of all, I have to make a remark or two about the cover art on this
lp. Besides being the most hideous thing in existence, mixing pukey
sixties psychedelia with every shade of purple known to prismacolor, you
will also find "tye-die" designs, pink, puke green, and sea blue, all on a
yellow background on the back cover. I think a good theme that drapes
itself over the entire visual experience is "puke." However, the album is
much more promising. Beginning with a few acoustic numbers, I thought we
might be back in "chorus" territory (if I remember correctly that was the
mostly acoustic lp, no?), but not so; besides puke, we also have
diversity, and more of it than on any other f.s.a. lp. We quickly
accelerate into more familiar noisy guitar work, with some basic
electronic drum loops/breaks. You'll even find a few solid dnb tempo
break tunes, somewhat reminiscent of older 3ef mentioned above. This is
very much a departure from the old, lo-fi strictly 4 track aesthetic that
had become their trademark. That characteristic "hiss" from the tape
recording is only present on a handful of tracks; Pierce is releasing
material that shows his slow, friendly acquaintance with digitalia. This
does not mean a sacrifice of rawness, but its coupling with modern
technology. With this new turn, it's not unreasonable to suppose that
Elliot and Pierce are collaborating, practicing, or just communicating
together and sharing ideas (I'm completely ignorant of what terms these
two are on). A more multifaceted experience than listening to any of the
previous albums, it's growing on me with every listen. One question: what
in god's name was the idea with the artwork?
2/14: pan american: 360 business/360 bypass (krank 41)
yup,
Ben
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