(fax) Smart + Talking Heads

[Martin Jones]

Also a Smart fan...especially Friendship thingy...

On 1/2/07, Trevor Cordes <trevor at tecnopolis.ca> wrote:
>
> On 11 Jul, Dave at Fax USA wrote:
> > I've really been digging "Smart" lately. It was one of those CDs I
> > dismissed at first, and now, revisiting it, I think it's pretty great.
>
> <Pulling one of my famous sits-in-my-inbox-for-6-months-then-finally-
> reply things>
>
> Had a chance to give Smart a coupld of spins.  I don't listen to this
> one often as it didn't score much more than average on my first listen.
> But it turns out you're very right: this one deserves more airtime.
>
> > The album starts off with Strakita which is a nice plodding ambient
> > track with slightly echoed piano. I like the New Composers use of
> > piano, although the piano itself is the least ambient part of their
> > work. This is not Harold Budd territory, folks.
>
> Yes, the piano works well for them.  It lends them an old-fashioned
> feel.
>
> > I won't review every track, but the 4th track, "Palace of Friendship on
> > Fontanka" is really, really nice. Dreamy ambience, again with the
> > piano, waves, some bird sounds (or are they some sort of water animal,
> > like a walrus?). Almost cliched in the combination of sounds, but they
> > do it up nice.
>
> Funny you single out t4.  My mom was by and heard the track and said she
> really liked it.  I'm not sure if that's a good thing!  It, like much of
> the album, approaches new age / HoS (the label) territory.  That's not
> necessarily bad, as I used to like NA/HoS/Narada quite a lot.  But maybe
> that's what turned me off to it a few years ago when I was looking for
> something more meaty.
>
> Hehe, I thought at first the "walrus sounds" you were referring to were
> the childrens' laughs.  But I see you meant the sounds closer to the
> end.  Reminds me of gulls, but who knows.  Sounds synthesize and not
> sampled?  As a whole, very Eno-y.
>
> > A couple of tracks are beat-driven, danceable pieces (324-A and Adept)
> > which flow really well.
>
> 324-A is another winner here.  Very very in the Advanced Indigo
> direction.  Simple beat, almost cheesy simple, but it works.
>
> > Adept is really a catchy track, again with
> > piano, some Asian instruments (Shakuhachi, maybe?)
>
> Yes, another AI precursor.  Definitely does have that "Peanuts" sound as
> John Whitney pointed out.
>
> > and a nice little
> > "click" here and there. There is a standard drum track, but that
> > "click" is really cool. Little elements like that can really add to a
> > track in my opinion, even though it's a simple sound.
>
> I'm sure most of us here will agree with you that it's a little nothing
> in a track that will often make the track.  A buddy and I figured out
> over years ago that we'll listen to 5 minutes of build just to get a
> little blip or click that lasts maybe 2 seconds, and that will make the
> whole track (I believe we specifically had Autechre in mind at the
> time).  I think this oddity may be unique to electronic music lovers.
>
> > There is some weird stuff here, including Sirens of Titan, which could
> > find a home on any adult easy-listening station
>
> I think Sirens might be one of my fave tracks on this one!  It's got
> that cool crackly 30's feel to it.  But you're right, very easy-l.
>
> t3 (those chords!) is straight out of Lanz-era Narada pianoscapes.
>
> > Eno's contribution (Long SQ, Short SQ, and La-La-La) is nice, to be
> > sure, but probably not required listening except for perhaps an Eno
>
> La-la-la is very nice.  You can definitely hear the Eno.  A real gem.
>
> So, thanks Dave as because of you Smart will get more playtime rather
> than the ignore-treatment.
>
> Lastly, I don't want to start an OT thread, but I just picked up Talking
> Heads - Remain in Light (1980).  It's co-written/produced by Eno.  I'm
> seriously blown away by this album.  I never really listened to the
> Talking Heads before, besides what radio play they may have gotten in
> the 80's.  I'm shocked how "advanced" it sounds, for 1980.  The quality
> is superb.  There are lots of "modern" electronicisms happening in
> there.  Track 4 blows my mind.  The dropping bass (Move D anyone?), the
> synths, the ambient backdrop, the semi-abstract nature of it.  Play it
> REAL loud in the car and turn up the AudioControl Epicenter on the 15"
> sub.  Tracks 1-3 are also great.  I'm working on the rest.
>
> Anyone else listen to this stuff?  Anyone else go ever back to the 70's
> and 80's and find some interesting gems hidden in the "pop" deluge?
>
> _______________________________________________
> faxlist mailing list
> faxlist at 2350.org
> http://2350.org/mailman/listinfo/faxlist
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://monkeymail.org/archives/faxlist/attachments/20070102/20fd0fd6/attachment.htm