Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol Two Judges

On a recent trip to the mall, I noticed New History Warfare Vol. Two: Judges by Colin Stetson filed under the rock / pop section of HMV.  After my initial surprise at finding this obscure album at HMV, I realized that whoever put this here had never listened to it, or even been in a room with someone who had.  This beast of an experimental jazz record resembles nothing close to pop or rock music, even though the soloist in question has played saxophone with the likes of Arcade Fire and Bon Iver as recently as last year.

New History Warfare Vol. Two: Judges is the second album by soloist Colin Stetson.  While listening to this behemoth, you may find it hard to believe that only one man is responsible for the cacophony of sax that you will hear even though each song was recorded in one take with no looping.  Mr. Stetson utilizes a technique called circular breathing, which allows him to play pieces up to five minutes long without stopping the insanity for even a moment.  The effect is quite dizzying, and at times it sounds barely human at all.  The saxophone seems to leap and bounce off a cavernous expanse deep within the earth.   Also, look at how big it is, Link.  This man is a beast.

He also manipulates the sound of the saxophone using 24 microphone positions throughout his recording space, sometimes even placing them inside the saxophone itself.  This recording techniques allows the saxophone to express an array of strange noises and even makes it sound like a heard of charging horses on the song "Clothed in the Skin of the Dead."

There are times in this album when short, well needed, interludes break up the noise, and guest spots by Laurie Anderson and Shara Worden help to add a human element to the devilish menagerie of sounds without distracting too much from Colin's playing.  "Lord I Just Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes" utilizes Shara Worden's voice to devastating effect.  She sings mournfully about her family and dismal life in a traditional blues fashion, while Colin's saxophone sniffles along in the background as if it is literally trying to keep from crying.  He plays one note throughout the entire song, which at times groans with such intensity that it feels like you are listening to the world rip apart around you.

I also felt incredibly impressed that one of the most emotional moments on the album for me was the 36 second track "All the Colours Bleached to White."  This track contains no brass at all, but instead opts to use a glorious choir to describe what feels like a heart breaking surrender.

The sounds that he produces from his demonic saxophone are so rich and deep they yawn and groan like some great beast from the bowels of hell in "Judges" and "Red Horses (II)."  He can also sound shrill and frantic in "From no Part of Me Could I Summon a Voice," strangely beautiful in "A Dream of Water" or shudder with ecstasy in "The Righteous Wrath of an Honourable Man."

This album blew me away so completely, that I could do nothing but sit in silence after some of the songs.  I find it as invigorating and challenging as it is entertaining.  It can be shrill and evil sounding, but it consistently shines with a strange sort of beauty I find it hard to put my finger on.  This is an experience like nothing you have ever heard before,  and it is definitely worth your time to listen to the whole thing.  This album actually came out in 2011, but I have been holding onto this review and refining my ideas about it since then.  I feel like I could still talk about it more, but I will leave it to you to experience yourself.  

The XX - Coexist

When I heard that a new XX album was released, I immediately went and put away everything that would remind me of my exes while I prepared to listen to it.  The often haunting and arresting simplicity of their début self titled album was remarkable.  The group has a great power to use their emptiness for raw emotional impact, exchanging complex songs for your own complex emotional response to it.  Songs like "Heart Skipped a Beat" and "Islands" from their first album definitely left me breathless, and if you have not listened to them, I suggest you do it now.

In their new album, Coexist, The XX still chase the same emotionally drained emptiness that their first album did, but it is altogether slower and although the songs have a more complete feel to them, I found that this took away from their emotional impact.  In this record, they don't put silence and empty space to work in nearly as affectively as they did before.  They do attempt to do this on "Tides" and "Our Song," but without engaging lyrical content, these two both come off as flat and uninteresting.

One thing that I noticed as soon as the opener "Angels" started playing is a change in percussion style from their last album.  The drum rolls on this track and cymbal splashes on "Chained" give a new organic life to these songs which was previously alien to The XX, and it is a fantastic development.  Jamie XX has also stated that club music had a strong influence on this record, which you can hear in songs like "Reunion," "Sunset," and "Chained," but the sleepy nocturnal feel that the xx produces does not allow them to be compared to any real club music.  That is not a problem for me because I would never expect an XX record to make me want to do anything but cry myself to sleep.  As a side note though I do see some good club remix possibilities for songs like "Chained" and "Try," the Hype Machine and Youtube confirm this suspicion.

Many of the songs sound more developed than on their first album, but their constituent elements don't always feel like they mesh very organically.  I noticed this the most with the very dark sounding guitar intro to "Try" (couldn't find a working link) which, although it sounded great on its own, had a very different tone than the rest of the song.  I also wish that steel drum on the next song "Reunion" were more of a centre piece because Jamie XX has shown how pretty he can make it sound in his solo work on the song "Far Nearer."

In general, I was not particularly thrilled with this album.  While I liked the improvement in percussion, many of these songs seemed awkwardly put together and dull.  It didn't have nearly the same arresting impact for me as their first album.  The real pitfall of making such skeletal music as the XX does is that if the few elements you use are lacklustre, or if they don't coalesce very nicely, there is very little else to keep the music interesting.

Kids and Explosions - Shit Computer

In honour of the upcoming Rifflandia Festival in our very own victoria, I have decided to try to review a couple albums from the incredible lineup of talented artists they have this year.  The first of these artists that I decided to check out is Kids and Explosions' 2010 album "Shit Computer."  You can check out his bio for Rifflandia here.

At a first glance, you might compare K&E to the pop sampling maniac Girl Talk, but K&E's more focused and careful delivery exceeds Girl Talk's frantic, fuck and chuck style of quickly adding elements and then changing them 8-10 seconds later before they have a chance to fully develop.  K&E's attention to pacing creates more complete songs and an altogether more cohesive album.

Even though K&E utilizes samples for all of his music, he is not content to let them play as normal.  In fact, a lot of the fun of listening to this music is remembering what the original lyrics or melodies are, and comparing them to how they have been chopped up and forced into these new formations.  For example, the opener, "Everything," features some hilariously mixed up Eminem and Notorious lyrics, set against a very backwards rendition of what I think might be "Sweet Child of Mine."  This technique reaches ridiculous proportions on the aptly titled "Swear Words," a song that is childish, but still fun.  I definitely laughed every time I heard Biggie yell "tits!"

I also find that, when you take away the meaning of these rap lyrics, it forces you to pay attention to the timbre of each rappers voice.  This is something that does not always get as much attention in rap music and you may once again find yourself loving how angry Eminem sounds, or appreciating Lil. Wayne's nick name "Weezy."

This album is not without its flaws, however.  When K&E's slice and dice skills fail, they fail hard.  At their best they are fun and intellectually compelling, but at their worst they are jittery and nearly intolerable, like on the track "Winning is Easy."  To put it in perspective though, this was a remarkably fun and unique mash up album, and since it is a first effort from K&E, I look forward to seeing K&E's development in the future.  I am also excited to see him play Thursday September 11 at Market Square.