Brian Eno/J. Peter Schwalm – Drawn from Life (Opal): I can’t figure out how Eno does it. Here is a guy who has re-invented himself so many time, you would think he would run out of ideas. But no, just stick him with a couple new people and watch the sparks fly! “Drawn from Life” is both original and true to Eno’s earlier work. It has all the ambiences and creepy muzak apparent in works like “Music for Airports”, but adds a whole mess of modern classical music (thanks to collaborator J. Peter Schwalm, a classically trained musician) and some performance art (from the legendary Laurie Anderson, she helps out on one track). Man, listening to this reminds me of how powerful and moving electronic music can be. This is brilliant, run and get it!
Final Grade: A
Sianspheric – The Sound of the Colour of the Sun (Sonic Unyon): With Canada fast becoming a hotbed of drone and space rock, Hamilton’s Sianspheric are clearly near the top of the pile. The band comes back with a different sound each album, each also deeply rooted in the droning ambient rhythms of space rock. This album is a bit more dissonant than most, but it does keep a nice soothing drone going through the album, so much that track switches seem to disappear on repeated listens. Occassionally, you won’t even remember the CD player was on, at least until the crunchy guitars start to churn up from under the noise. This album grows on you with each new listen. More and more details become clear as time goes on. Simply a brilliant album.
Final Grade: A
Busy Signals – Pretend Hits (Sugar Free): Another “band” composing of just one guy, in this case, American Howard W. Hamilton III. The Busy Signals use a backdrop of staccato, sing-along folk-pop to launch various excursions into R&B, electronics and hip-hop. Overall, the effect is intriguing, but very disorienting. First, the folk-pop direction is not all that interesting. The music seems to lope along out of force of necessity rather than internal energy. The raps are decidedly limp and the faux-R&B is so dated, it can’t be put into words. If it weren’t for the cutesy but disturbing Japanese line art that serves as the cover, I would write this album off. I guess this appeals to the aimless slacker youth that love lo-fi pop, but the effect is lost on me.
Final Grade: C-
Bata Band – Hot Shots II (Astralwerks): Britain’s Beta Band have finally started to stir up some interest in North America, and its about bloody time. There are only two types of music that the British truly excel at: classic metal and pop. The Beta Band are a pop band. No, they aren’t like the Backstreet Boys. They are much cooler. Basically, they channel the best of the Lennon/McCartney days into a modern electronic-drenched pop. Dreamy and vast, the music they make shimmers in and out of beauty, out of hazy psychedelica to soaring pop harmonies. It’s catchy as hell. If the Beatles had never existed, The Beta Band would have filled the void. This will appeal to pure pop fans as well as those with more electronic tastes. Definitely give this disk a spin or three.
Final Grade: A
Frihavn – Demo .01 (Escape Divison): Part of the Canadian explosion of space and drone rock, Toronto’s Frihavn sports some nice credentials. Featuring some ex-members of the now well-respected Southpacific, Frihavn moves in much the same direction as that band. Slow guitar drones with prehistorically slow tone changes dominate the sounds on this disk. Curiously, the band has taken a Danish name and festoon the CD with Scandinavian imagery. They even call themselves an “ambient blues” band, whatever that means. This is the type of stuff Hawkwind fans slaver over, but this album doesn’t seem to break much new group. Good effort.
Final Grade: B-