Follow-up to 2003’s Ourselves by this Glasgow duo extends the already broad range of sound heard on that stunner into new worlds. These two prolific players are at the top of their game, pairing some immediately identifiable elements — Alex Neilson’s superb jazz-influenced drumming, Richard Youngs unmistakable voice — with a thick layer of truly psychedelic clamor. The brief “Chamber” rips out a noise like a ’60s Sun Ra / Pat Patrick duo, segueing into the also Ra-ish masterpiece “Music of the Lost Sun.” The point in “Lost Sun” where Young’s voice and guitar emerge from the polyglot sound for a beautiful melodic interlude is just too much. The second half of the record has a less layered feel, beginning with the a capella “Noatak Beacon,” then moving into more aggro territory where Neilson’s bowed cymbals taking on Youngs’s guitar on “Mountain.” The short cut-up “Big Aeroplanes” ends the record on a final note of mystery.
CD $12.00
11/08/2005
MP3 $9.90
11/08/2005
Ourselves was originally recorded in Glasgow 2003 as a one-hour special for broadcast on London's Resonance FM but turned out too good to leave to the ether. It is the first collaboration between VHF mainstay Richard Youngs and octopus-armed percussionist Alexander Neilson (currently working with the Glasgow big-band Scatter, whose debut is due soon on Cenotaph). The music here represents something of a return to the extended psychedelic mania of mid-'90-s R!!! outings such as Asthma and Diabetes and Enedkeg. "Beam" kicks off the CD with Youngs ripping it up on electric guitar over a thick blanket of hand percussion, plucked strings, and backwards scraping noises. The 36- minute "Mexico" follows with more string mangling, segueing into an atmospheric interlude for voices, bowed cymbals, and bells. The final track is an unusual rendering of the traditional "God Bless The Master," with Youngs's unmistakable voice carrying the original melody over the cloud of bric-a-brac and swells of electricity swirling in the background. * Youngs knows the ins and outs of extended psychedelic whoosh better than most * Performed live on the air in Glasgow, 2003
CD $12.00
03/16/2004
MP3 $9.90
03/16/2004