Monday, December 04, 2006

Music I Liked And Didn't - 11/30/06 - 12/4/06



Adds -

PSYCHIC PARAMOUNT: Gamelan Into The Mink Supernatural CD (No Quarter) - I’m just now catching up on The Psychic Paramount, a trio which features former members of the great Laddio Bolocko, Drew St. Ivany and Ben Armstrong. Sonically, the material on this release from 2005 (especially the first three tracks) features a lot of same elements as Laddio Bolocko, highlighted by propulsive rhythms and noisy guitar attacks. Unlike Laddio Bolocko, however, there’s less control, less precision in their attack, as tracks end and change abruptly and have, in general, a more chaotic feel and in-the-red production values. In addition, the album’s final two tracks give a tip of the hat to the modern composers of NYC’s Lower East Side scene and take a much more experimental approach. On “X-Visitations”, building layers of electro-drone eventually give way to waves of beautiful, disortion-laden guitar and “Gamelan” closes this set with an ever-building series of loops. A solid and often exhilirating, if imperfect, debut.


Did Not Add -

CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX: Shark & Storms / Blizzard Of Horned Cats / My Enemies I Fear Not, But Protect Me From My Friends 10” EP (Invada) - Crippled Black Phoenix is a new project that’s already receiving significant hype due to the presence of Mogwai’s Dominic Aitchison on bass and their record deal with the Portishead associated, Invada label. The A-Side delivers a fairly standard take on that layered, building, evocative post-rock sound that, quite frankly, has been done better by other bands before. The B-Side tends towards a more gothic, neo-folk sound, but pales in comparison to the work of true practitioners in that (sub)genre, such as Forseti, Sonne Hagal, and so on. While both of these tracks are pleasant enough, I guess, the fact is that neither made a strong enough impression on me to feel that they’d ever merit future play if I were to stick this in my already bulging stax o’ wax and, as a result, I did not add this to my library.


Running Count For The Year

Adds 153/67%

Did Not Add 76/33%

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