(#705) Georgia
Satellites – Self Titled (1986)
The track I heard was this band’s best known track, Keep
Your Hands To Yourself, a classic serve of Southern US rock topped off by the
booming voice of Dan Baird. Most of the
rest of the album is very much in the same vein. If you heard Keep Your Hands To Yourself,
then Railroad Steel sounds exactly as
you would image. Battleship Chains has a
thumping great tune and singalong chorus and was a deserved second hit; Can’t
Stand The Pain is even better incorporating some stinging slide guitar and
Nights Of Mystery slows things down just a touch to great effect. As if to underscore the fact this is good
time old fashioned rock band that would go down a treat in pubs just about
anywhere in the English speaking world, the final track is a killer version of
Rod Stewart’s Every Picture Tells A Story.
(#706) Boris – Smile (2008)
Boris is a three piece band from Japan that makes very loud,
feedback and drone drenched rock. They
are especially loved by just about any act that had ever experimented with such
music; I remember once reading a quote attributed
to the late Lou Reed who proclaimed them to be the most important band in the
world and they frequently attract other musicians to guest on their
records. This album starts with the mid
tempo Flower Sun Rain that sort of lulls the listener into a false sense of
security. Buzz-In which follows
immediately snaps the listener alert, a three minute rocker playing at maximum
speed and overloaded with effects to the point of derangement. Laser Beam is more of the same sans effects; Statement wouldn’t sound all that out of place
on albums by Australian alternative rockers such as God, The Powdermonkeys of
The Hard Ons and My Neighbour Satan alternates between quiet moments and fuzz
guitar orgies. The ambitious Ka Re Ha Te Ta Sa Ki (or No Ones Grieve) starts
off with slow heavy riffling as if in tribute to label mates Sunn O))) before
exploding into a wall of feedback, sung vocals, some effective heavy metalesque
soloing and found sources. But even this,
and everything else on the album, is trumped by its final 23 minutes. You Were Holding An Umbrella starts off as a
slow gurgle with softly sung lyrics, faint drums and delicate touches. Midway through its 8 minute length, a
glorious guitar solo emerges, seemingly from nowhere, and the remainder of the
track alternates between increasingly louder versions of its first half and the
solo. It then segues into the brilliant closer identified only as [ ] on the album cover. The opening section is reminiscent of first
half of the previous track; about three minutes in the vocals start and the
drumming becomes more assertive. At the
half way mark an incredibly loud and slow guitar line drops in and is repeated for
the remainder of the track, seemingly getting slower and heavier as it proceeds
until the track collapses into dark sheets of noise. By the time the track has ended, the fact 15
minutes has elapsed barely registers such is its intensity. It almost goes without saying that it’s one
of my favourite pieces of modern music.
(#707) Portishead –
Third (2008)
I played this next because when it was originally released I
remember reading interviews by the band’s musicians Geoff Barrow and Adrian
Utley that the album was heavily influenced by their listening of experimental music
by the likes of Boris, Sun O))) and Om. After
hearing just how radically this album sounded from their first two, I resolved to
seek out these influences. On the
surface it is barely discernible but it requires a few listens. It’s most clearly heard in We Carry On which carries
a drone throughout its length as well as a number of repetitious elements
occurring simultaneously creating a barrage of sound which eventually sucks in
Beth Gibbons vocals. Machine Gun employs
a similar device although this seems to have also been filtered though some
Krautrock influences as well. But
ultimately, this is an album that, whatever the influence, has a distinctive
presence that marks them as one of the more creative acts in the English speaking
world.
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