My initial reaction when first playing this was that it reminded me somewhat of ‘My Life In the Bush of Ghosts’ in terms of style, and I was therefore pleased to see that the band references that seminal work as a major influence on what they are trying to achieve. The band is a trio of Richard Sylvarnes (Kaoss Pads, loops, synths, rhythms, guitars, vocals), Pietro Russino (guitars, loops, violin) and Tony Geballe (guitars, synths, loops), and they all initially met at Robert Fripp's Guitar Craft Seminars at Claymont Court, and from there a group to provide live music for Richard Sylvarnes' film “The Last Words of Dutch Schultz”. The band themselves describe the music as “Avant-garde post-industrial pre-cambrian pan-ethnic serial noise proto-punk neocortex music. It lives at the intersection of “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts” and Autechre, mixing glitchcore, ambient, and progressive rock.” So, there you have it. Add into the mix plenty of King Crimson influences, passages of spoken texts; either through a disembodied heroine’s chant from a 1930’s gangster film or robot voices reciting Marxist texts, then one can understand why the album has been titled as it has.
There is a darkness to the album, as if one is living in a surreal Mickey Spillane movie at night, and of course it is raining, and one feels under threat. There is an aura of danger, as this music creates a soundscape that is incredibly visual in its approach. There is a lot to take in, and this is best played when there is nothing else happening, as it needs firm concentration to get the best from it. But, there is one number on the album that I did find quite jarring, “Schizoid”, where a young girl speaks the lyrics to “21st Century Schizoid Man” against a totally different musical backing. I believe I understand what they are trying to achieve, as this is piece is incredibly fraught and passionate, but I and many others know these lyrics so well that it just doesn’t have the impact it should, and for me is a detraction. Overall, this is yet another intriguing album from 7D Media that is worth investigation.
