INVITO AL CIELO (1998)

CONNOR LOCKIE OF THE BLOG SPECTRUM CULTURE REVISITED THIS ALBUM BY SONIC YOUTH AND JIM O'ROURKE, RELEASED AS PART OF THEIR SYR EXPERIMENTAL SERIES, JUST LAST YEAR. IN A SYMPATHETIC AND POSITIVE REVIEW HE SAID THIS:

When things are loud, they’re very loud; when they’re slow and dissonant, it’s like a funeral dirge. Improv purists might turn their noses up at the idea of pop musicians treading this ground, but Sonic Youth show that they have a deep understanding of both camps, such that they end up straddling the fine line that connects the two.

IMPROV PURISTS CAN ALL GO TO HELL AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED AND IT IS PRETTY CLEAR BY ANY YARDSTICK THAT ALL OF THE GROUP (BUT ESPECIALLY LEE AND THURSTON) ARE TIME-SERVED CARD-CARRYING MEMBERS OF THE NO WAVE WEIRDO MOVEMENT, HOWEVER LONG THEY HAVE SPENT IN 'POP MUSIC' LATTERLY.

 

MAYBE I'M JUST SCARRED BY THOSE DISKAHOLICS RECORDS AND THE MELBOURNE RECORD BY JIM AND THE SONIC YOUTH MEN BUT I CAN'T HANDLE IMPROV RECORDS BY THIS LOT ANYMORE. IT ISN'T OFFENSIVE OR ANYWHERE NEAR AS BAD AS DISKAHOLICS, AND I MUST STRESS AGAIN I RESPECT THE UNDERPINNINGS OF THIS, BUT IT JUST GETS ON MY LAST NERVE.

THE BEST BITS OF THE RECORD ON FINAL 30 MINUTE JAM 'RADIO-AMATOROJ' SOUNDS A BIT LIKE THE DYING FEEDBACK BITS IN 1988 CLOSING JAM ELIMINATOR JR FROM DAYDREAM NATION. IT'S JUST THAT IN THAT SONG IT WAS A BRIDGING METHOD BETWEEN SECTIONS: HERE IT IS THE ENTIRE THING IN AND OF ITSELF. 

THIS DOESN'T GET TO DUD DEPTHS BUT I AM NOT RECOMMENDING IT.

CAMOUFLEUR (1998)

IN CASE YOU ARE WONDERING ABOUT MY SELECTION METHODOLOGY HERE THEN I DON'T HAVE ONE. I AM TRYING TO JUMP AROUND IN TIME, NOT GET TOO FOCUSED IN ONE SUB-GENRE OR AREA OF O'ROURKE'S PRACTICE, AND PAINT THE PICTURE IN A WIDE-RANGING MANNER.

I AM ALSO AWARE THAT O'ROURKE HAS ABOUT 15 OR SO RECORDS THAT ARE MUCH MORE FAMOUS THAN THE REST AND I AM TRYING TO STRATEGICALLY DROP THEM ACROSS THE WRITING OF THIS BLOG. HOWEVER, THE LAST FEW POSTS HAVE HAD A NARROW FOCUS ON "JIM MAKING FUCKING ANNOYING RECORDS WITH THURSTON MOORE AND HIS PALS" SO I THOUGHT I'D GO BACK TO A RECORD THAT PROVOKED MY INTEREST IN WRITING THIS BLOG IN THE FIRST PLACE.

THERE'S PROBABLY A WORTHY 33 1/3 CONTINUUM SERIES BOOK AND ACADEMIC THESIS IN CAMOUFLEUR, THE FIFTH AND FINAL ALBUM BY GASTR DEL SOL. IT SOUNDS AT ONCE FAMILIAR AND NEW, WHICH IS A WHEEZY CLICHE THAT I'VE HEARD APPLIED TO A LOT OF MUSIC, BUT I DO ACTUALLY THINK THAT.

LET'S BREAK IT DOWN. THE OPENER 'THE SEASONS REVERSE' HAS A FEEL IN THE REALM OF PROPER TROPICALIA GENRE PIECE. BUT THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIX, IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE SONIC ELEMENTS THAT IS PULLING IT AWAY FROM THAT. IT'S NOT OCCLUDING THE SONGWRITING: IT'S AN ELECTRONIC SOUND BUZZED IN FROM ANOTHER WORLD, A WHIRRING PIECE OF INHUMAN PERCUSSION STUTTERING ALONG.

IN MY HEAD IT GOES THAT GRUBBS IS TRYING TO WRITE REASONABLY NORMAL SONGS AND O'ROURKE IS TRYING TO PULL THEM APART. WHAT WE'RE LEFT WITH IS THIS, AND THAT IS ALSO WHY THEY SPLIT. IT'S PROBABLY NOT ACTUALLY LIKE THAT, BUT IT FEELS LIKE IT COULD BE TRUE.

A COUPLE OF THE TUNES ACTUALLY SOUND LIKE GENUINE AMERICANA AND NOT IN THE ALT-COUNTRY SENSE, BUT REAL MUSIC HEWN FROM THE SALT OF THE EARTH OF THE NEW CONTINENT. THIS MIGHT BE AN ACADEMIC EXERCISE IN SOME RESPECT, BUT LISTEN TO 'BLACK HORSE' AND TELL ME IT SOUNDS INSINCERE, EVEN WHEN COMPUTER/MIDI NOISES CHIME IN WITH THE ACOUSTIC GUITARS. IT IS ACTUALLY *BEAUTIFUL* WITHOUT ANY UNDERPINNING COMMENT.

IT'S A HUGELY SUCCESSFUL RECORD ON EVERY TRACK. HOWEVER, FOR ME, THERE ARE A COUPLE OF TRACKS THAT ARE APPROXIMATELY SIMILAR THAT GO EVEN FURTHER. I DON'T KNOW IF THESE ARE GRUBBS TRACKS OR O'ROURKE OR EVEN ANYTHING TO DO WITH MARKUS 'OVAL' POPP WHO TURNS UP TO HELP OUT HERE, BUT THEY RATE AS HIGH AS ANYTHING IN THE O'ROURKE CATALOGUE THUS FAR.

 

THOSE TRACKS - 'BLUES SUBTITLED NO SENSE OF WONDER' AND 'EACH DREAM IS AN EXAMPLE' - DO SOMETHING BOTH 'SMART' AND MOVING. I CAN'T QUITE PLACE MY FINGER ON IT. THE FORMER IS THE SONG CLOSEST TO MY FEELING OF CONFUSION ON WAKING AS I CAN THINK; A MESS OF GLOSSOLALIA, WORDS SLIPPING IN AND OUT OF MEANING; A NEW FORM OF BALLADEERING FOR THE 00S NOT REALISED BY THE MANY. 

IT'S A RARE RECORD IN THAT IT IS GREAT AND ALSO A LITTLE BIT UNDERRATED: I THINK MUSIC IN 2020 IS PRETTY FAR FROM A RECORD LIKE THIS THAT IS SIMULTANEOUSLY ARCH AND SINCERE. FOR ME THIS ISN'T JUST CERTIFIED GOOD BUT UP THERE WITH SPIDERLAND AND JOURNEY IN SATCHIDANANDA AND MY FAVOURITE THINGS AND EASTER EVERYWHERE.

CERTIFIED: GOOD.

FEAR NO FALL (1998)

THE 1997 KLAPSTUK FESTIVAL IN LEUVEN, WHICH IS KINDA HALFWAY BETWEEN BRUSSELS AND THE BORDER WITH THE NETHERLANDS, SAW SEVERAL BIG NAMES IN THE WORLD OF FREE IMPROVISATION, EXPERIMENTAL JAZZ, MODERN COMPOSITION, AND OTHER GENERAL FLAVOURS OF NON-CONFORMIST MUSIC-MAKING COME TOGETHER FOR A 5 DAY JAMBOREE OF INTERPLAY AND MAYHEM.

ON EACH DAY OF THE FESTIVAL A DIFFERENT LINE-UP OF MUSICIANS COMPRISING SOME *BUT NOT ALL* (EXCEPT ONE TRACK) OF THE ABOVE-NAMED PERFORMERS IN A KIND OF SHAPE-SHIFTING EXPLORATORY VOLTRON. I DON'T KNOW WHETHER THEY HAD A BRIEF TO PURSUE A PARTICULAR THEME OR FOLLOW ON FROM THE PREVIOUS SESSION (IT DOESN'T REALLY SOUND LIKE IT) OR WHETHER THE PROMOTER JUST SAID "HAVE A GREAT TIME OUT THERE U GUYS" AND THE PERFORMERS DID THE REST.

THE BEST STUFF IS THE STUFF WITH BELGIAN PERCUSSIONIST DIRK WACHTELAER; HE'S A GREAT DRUMMER BUT IMPORTANTLY HE IMPOSES SOME SEMBLANCE OF STRUCTURE ON MUSIC THAT GETS, FOR ME, A BIT ONANISTIC IN PARTS. FOR INSTANCE THE PIECE BETWEEN VETERAN SAMPLER DAVID SHEA AND JIM O'ROURKE SOUNDS LIKE SOMEONE TUNING UP AND THEN A JAW'S HARP OR SOMETHING. UNEDIFYING.

TO BE HONEST MOST OF THE BEST STUFF HERE DOESN'T FEATURE O'ROURKE: THE TOSHINORI KONDO/WACHTELAER TRACK IS A JAM. THE SHOWPIECE MEETING OF SIX MINDS ON ONE TRACK SUFFERS FROM A TOO MANY COOKS/NOT ENOUGH CHIEFS THING.

IT'S FREE IMPROVISATION FOR FREE IMPROVISATION FANS AND THUS IT ISN'T FAIR TO EXPECT TRADITIONAL FORMS. I DID EXPECT TO HATE IT FROM THE OPENING 5 MINUTES BUT THERE ARE SOME TREATS SCATTERED THROUGHOUT, BUT NOT ENOUGH FOR ME TO THINK THESE GUYS MISSED A CHANCE TO BECOME THE HOT BAND OF THE 00S.