BLUE LAMBENCY DOWNWARD

One of the two most important and best Avant-garde bands at the moment (the other being Sleepytime Gorilla Museum) continues it´s path into unconventional territory, this time mixing some jazz into the already non-formulatic formula of their music; Blue Lambency Downward is not only a step into all directions (forward is just not enough), but a departure of what Toby & co. had been doing so far with their previous albums. And that´s not to say they needed that departure, which makes this shift ever so more interesting, at least in this reviewer´s opinion. Well could they have made Choirs of the eye part II and I don´t think many would have argued with the results, yet instead they don´t look back, which, funny enough, does bring some questioning from some. And how wouldn´t it? Blue Lambency Downward is just as hard to swallow as their previous efforts where, but this time the Dots changed a bit ...too much? Maybe. Is that bad? Fuck no! It is in this reviewer´s opinion that the Kayo Dot have never sounded better; if I liked their music before with this album I´ve grown lo love it.

Gone are the long songs (although both the opener and closer strech into 10 min) and bombastic metal outbursts, and introducing: short pieces of music (I´m afraid the term "songs" is pidgeonholding). But although the great majority of the album consists of short pieces, these seem to be episodes of a whole, for you see, there is a unity of entity thru out the album that, if not taken track of when one "movement" ends and the other begins, one could almost think of it as a single 40-something min piece of music. Yet, stand outs do appear here. The self titled opener is one, with it´s introductory guitars and soft, bittersweat vocals and so is it´s closer, Symmetrical Arizona, maybe the only track that has anything to do with their former albums. But maybe the best song, or at least this reviewer´s personal favorite (oh, how important and pretentious I feel speaking in the third person) is The awkward wind wheel, with it´s Sleepytime-esque intro it quickly falls into avant-jazz territory which could almost be considered to have a slide resemblence to rock music... but those thoughts are quickly thrown away by the middle of the song... yes, this one could qualify as one!

Although it might not surpass Choirs of the eye, it is however a brilliant, fresh, sophisticated, at times intimate and (yes) awkward album from a band (or should I say a man?) not interested in looking anywhere but within their own self impossed incapability to reastrin themself to boundaries.

A line from Clelia walking might best express them than what I tried to: "I don´t want to be the melody". Sure thing, they are much more.