 | ||
| Track List: 1. Hanuman 2. Buster Voodoo 3. Triveni 4. Logos 5. Santo Domingo 6. Master Maqui 7. Savitri 8. Hora Zero 9. Chac Mool 10. Atman 11. 11:11 Running time: 45 minutes Released: 2009 |
So apparently dedications are their thing, since this album has one for each track, too. Rodrigo y Gabriela get to be the first to appear twice in this list (before I began I expected that to be Sigur Rós) by virtue of using numbers. Woo.
Actually the dedications are the point here. 11 songs dedicated to 11 artists that inspired them. Cool idea for a theme, though I do not recognise most of the artists concerned (Pink Floyd and Hendrix are the exceptions).
It is quite a big, brash start. Hanuman dives right into a bigger sound than I recall from 9 Dead Alive but then again, that's probably because my speaker was not connected properly and it was using the brassier laptop speakers instead. Still, right from the first note there is a lot going on. Again. I am expecting not to like this as much to be honest; the liner notes make it seem much more of a love letter to heavy metal from two fans, which means it is more divergent from my interest. However it remains mostly acoustic and intricate and interesting... just a little less so.
I never cease to be amazed by how much sound duos can produce, and how two musicians can appear to be playing 4 or 5 parts if they are really good. I first noticed this in a completely different genre and style with Jon Spiers and Jon Boden's combination of fiddle and melodion (with foot stamps for percussion) but it is present here too. Less noticeable for me because of the similarities in the instruments each is playing but definitely there. I guess it appears in larger groups too, but the impression is stronger the fewer people there are to contribute.
Logos is an interesting departure in sound, one I was not expecting. Much more open, free, melodic and less busy. It is also shorter, and a transition I thought was a bait and switch was actually WMP ticking over to the next track. This makes for an interesting section, but frankly a less enjoyable one. I am not sure whether that is because I have preselected what I want from this pair and this feels like a departure from that, or just a lesser appreciation for these tracks without a bias. I am also in a strange mood this evening, which does not help. Dog tired, I would be in bed if I thought I would sleep through - but it is only 21.40 and the last two nights have been a perfect illustration of going to bed early making me wake early (03.30 this morning). For that reason, I suggest, my opinions may not be fair tonight.
Master Maqui starts differently again, the balance lying with the percussive, before sliding back into more familiar weighting. It is more staccato in effect, and until the sections where that fades into the background, I do not enjoy the track. I am rather relieved when it ends, as my ears feel like they have been boxed.
When Savitri starts and my subconscious immediately goes "same; bored now" I know that I am not being fair. If fair reviews were the point of this exercise I would stop at this point, but that is not what these Listens are about, so I plough on, forcing myself though another 15 minutes or so and trying to bite back on harsh and unwarranted words. From an intellectual standpoint this is probably my favourite track on the disc so far despite that initial reaction.
I feel like I should have a glass of wine and be sitting back curled up, feet under me, not leaning forward at a keyboard though when Hora Zero reaches the two minute mark, had I been so positioned my sofa would likely now be stained. The elements of 9DA that had me purring are still here, but I have mostly been missing them. Most tracks do generally still contain multiple sub-tracks and variations that almost feel like distinct pieces joined in seamless medley.
Not so much Chac Mool - short, sparse; like Logos an odditiy amongst the larger sounds that surround it. Atman, which follows, I was expecting to be the most Metal on the disc (a result of the guest musician and dedication) and the least enjoyable as a result, but in practice I am pleasantly surprised and actually it may be my favourite... for the first 4 minutes at least. Then the (I guess) guest electrics come in and I am bored immediately (see the comments on 9DA re guitar heroes). When they fade there is an interesting echo, but the attention is long lost.
11:11 is the Pink Floyd dedication. Floyd will show up a fair bit later on so this should be interesting, but I cannot help but feel that the track is not long enough to be dedicated to prog! The tune turns out to be interesting enough. I can hear hints of the space present in a lot of David Gilmour's playing and there are echoes of High Hopes. Oddly it fades to keys, that feels somewhat out of place - for the track, for the album and for the dedication - but actually it brings a pleasant curtain down on the album, and my efforts to be productive this evening along with it.
It is quite a big, brash start. Hanuman dives right into a bigger sound than I recall from 9 Dead Alive but then again, that's probably because my speaker was not connected properly and it was using the brassier laptop speakers instead. Still, right from the first note there is a lot going on. Again. I am expecting not to like this as much to be honest; the liner notes make it seem much more of a love letter to heavy metal from two fans, which means it is more divergent from my interest. However it remains mostly acoustic and intricate and interesting... just a little less so.
I never cease to be amazed by how much sound duos can produce, and how two musicians can appear to be playing 4 or 5 parts if they are really good. I first noticed this in a completely different genre and style with Jon Spiers and Jon Boden's combination of fiddle and melodion (with foot stamps for percussion) but it is present here too. Less noticeable for me because of the similarities in the instruments each is playing but definitely there. I guess it appears in larger groups too, but the impression is stronger the fewer people there are to contribute.
Logos is an interesting departure in sound, one I was not expecting. Much more open, free, melodic and less busy. It is also shorter, and a transition I thought was a bait and switch was actually WMP ticking over to the next track. This makes for an interesting section, but frankly a less enjoyable one. I am not sure whether that is because I have preselected what I want from this pair and this feels like a departure from that, or just a lesser appreciation for these tracks without a bias. I am also in a strange mood this evening, which does not help. Dog tired, I would be in bed if I thought I would sleep through - but it is only 21.40 and the last two nights have been a perfect illustration of going to bed early making me wake early (03.30 this morning). For that reason, I suggest, my opinions may not be fair tonight.
Master Maqui starts differently again, the balance lying with the percussive, before sliding back into more familiar weighting. It is more staccato in effect, and until the sections where that fades into the background, I do not enjoy the track. I am rather relieved when it ends, as my ears feel like they have been boxed.
When Savitri starts and my subconscious immediately goes "same; bored now" I know that I am not being fair. If fair reviews were the point of this exercise I would stop at this point, but that is not what these Listens are about, so I plough on, forcing myself though another 15 minutes or so and trying to bite back on harsh and unwarranted words. From an intellectual standpoint this is probably my favourite track on the disc so far despite that initial reaction.
I feel like I should have a glass of wine and be sitting back curled up, feet under me, not leaning forward at a keyboard though when Hora Zero reaches the two minute mark, had I been so positioned my sofa would likely now be stained. The elements of 9DA that had me purring are still here, but I have mostly been missing them. Most tracks do generally still contain multiple sub-tracks and variations that almost feel like distinct pieces joined in seamless medley.
Not so much Chac Mool - short, sparse; like Logos an odditiy amongst the larger sounds that surround it. Atman, which follows, I was expecting to be the most Metal on the disc (a result of the guest musician and dedication) and the least enjoyable as a result, but in practice I am pleasantly surprised and actually it may be my favourite... for the first 4 minutes at least. Then the (I guess) guest electrics come in and I am bored immediately (see the comments on 9DA re guitar heroes). When they fade there is an interesting echo, but the attention is long lost.
11:11 is the Pink Floyd dedication. Floyd will show up a fair bit later on so this should be interesting, but I cannot help but feel that the track is not long enough to be dedicated to prog! The tune turns out to be interesting enough. I can hear hints of the space present in a lot of David Gilmour's playing and there are echoes of High Hopes. Oddly it fades to keys, that feels somewhat out of place - for the track, for the album and for the dedication - but actually it brings a pleasant curtain down on the album, and my efforts to be productive this evening along with it.
No comments:
Post a Comment