Troubled, Shaken Etc.

admin — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:12:00 +0000

British rock band Sian Alice Group’s latest effort can be categorized somewhere between prog rock, ambient folk, and experimental. Clocking in anywhere between two and eight minutes, their songs wind around and bump up against one another, creating a cohesive sophomore album. Troubled, Shaken Etc., in all its bewildering glory, is the followup to their critically acclaimed 59:59.

On "First Song - Angelina" and "Close to the Ground"—one of the album's most memorable tracks—Sian Ahern's haunting vocals carry the tune over lilting piano melodies and fading percussion. While never an imposing front woman, it’s clear—not just from the band’s chosen name—that Ahern is a force with which to be reckoned. What can I say? I like tough gals with delicate voices.

Even at only 1:55, “Longstrakt” is a memorable track, reminiscent of label mates Gang Gang Dance with its hypnotic, repetitive percussion. Want to be instantly transported into a psychedelic horror film? This is the song for you.

While the entire album shifts moods and structure repeatedly, it retains a cohesive quality. It fades as forgettable background music if you stop paying attention, but take it to a listening party with your super hip composer friends and impress them all with your ability to listen to the album tracks out of order.

Bands on The Social Registry label are often uninhibited by confusing rhythms, comfortable with unconventional songwriting and vocal abilities. Sian Alice Group is no exception, though it should be noted that their ethereal sounds may be more listenable than other musicians who keep the same professional ties. This is more fact than strength or weakness.

On tour in the U.S. starting in September, their casual post-rock shows ought to be worth entrance fees, if not the token t-shirt.

Written by: Brittany Shoot, September 27th 2009

Saint Dymphna

admin — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 11:53:00 +0000

By Gang Gang Dance

The Social Registry

Saint Dymphna is the patron of those stricken with mental illness or nervous system disorders, epileptics, mental health professionals, happy families, incest victims, and runaways. The saint was martyred by a recently widowed father. He’d made advances at her and she ran away to Belgium with her confessor, the court jester, and his wife. The elderly priest and Dymphna were slaughtered, but they don’t say what happened to the jester. St. Dymphna’s attributes include appearing praying in a cloud surrounded by lunatics wearing golden chains. Gang Gang Dance seems more appropriate to dancing on earth, but lunacy and jewelry still correspond. Their first album was God's Money, and based on the strength of Saint Dymphna, I’m actually tempted to track it down despite the fact that I possess neither.

The band includes Lizzi Bougatsos, Brian Degraw, Tim Dewit, and Josh Diamond. They craft world-beat-meets-moog tracks, with recordings veering in between the ethnographic and the experimental. This is destined to be a pick at art opening after parties, but not necessarily in a bad way. The band members say in an interview that two met with one stocking music on shelves and another shoplifting it out of the bin, and that seems as apt a metaphor as any. Moments of musical clarity are stolen between some extensive noodling.

My response to much jazz and experimental music frequently is to think, "Am I actually enjoying this, or am I acting like I am enjoying it because I believe that I should enjoy it as a cultured would-be-avant-garde person? How many other people here are actually enjoying this? How many would rather be listening to Johnny Cash? Are we all just a bunch of pretentious gits?" My own CD collection ranges from Eno to Orbison (okay, an old friend made me a tape of the Orbison), so eclecticism is all well and good, but I was more enamored of the opening tracks than the album’s wind-down. The cover graphic appears to depict Berbers at Mardi Gras. That works, as does a track entitled "Inner Pace." Gang Gang Dance is simultaneously measured and organic. Enjoy them at your own pace.

Written by: Erika Mikkalo, November 26th 2008