ARCHIVE TWO

"Archive Two" is basically a compilation of two previously released albums from 1988 & 1989 called "Shapuno Zoo" and "A Luigi Futi" respectively. I have to admit right off the bat that this recording has been a difficult one for me to get into. And I mean all of it (haha). I so enjoyed "City Of Mirrors" but this is nothing like that.

"Set Of Crayons" has this native sounding rhythm as cello and vocal melodies compete. Marching style drums come in late. "Do The Crawl" has silence to start for too long then cello and flute arrive followed by other sounds.Vocals before 2 minutes and they will come and go. "Familiar Philippic" has these outbursts of sounds that come and go. Spoken male words before 1 1/2 minutes. It kicks into a steady groove around 3 minutes then it settles back a minute later. A familiar melody is covered 6 minutes in. "Indian Bingo" has spoken male and female vocals with music. It's humerous but I can't get into it. "Imperfections" is led by flute and piano early then it settles when the vocals arrive around a minute. Not a fan.

"Prisms Of Ribbon" opens with flute as other sounds join in.This is very classical sounding. "Omaggio A Futi" is a 20 minute track that features muscians from both Laos and Cambodia as they did this cultural music exchange. Drums and keyboards lead early, flute then cello follows. A calm after 3 1/2 minutes with spoken words. A change after 8 1/2 minutes as we get a lot of [%*!#]ing meandering here. It kicks in after 13 1/2 minutes. A calm 15 1/2 minutes. Female vocals after 17 1/2 minutes. Next up is the "Barbie Variations" starting with "Birth By Injection Mold" which opens with the sounds of someone ordering food in a restaurant. Experimental sounds then take over. "Marriage And Divorce" opens with cello as piano and other sounds come and go. "G.I. Joe Vs. Ken" opens with spoken words and music. Dissonant sax comes and goes. Female spoken words too before 2 minutes then more male words. "Barbie In Hell" is slow moving with sparse piano and other sounds.

I can only offer up 3 stars for this one. It's just not my bag.

I've reviewed each of this compilation components respectively and this is just a brief summary, observation, and a bit of advice. This MTG compilation is so full of stuff, musical creativity, adventurous, details and complexity that I don't think it's a good idea to listen to the whole thing entirely at once. Certainly not at the first listens. I recommend dividing the listening to 3 or even 4 parts. First, listen to the 'Barbie variations', which start at track 8, up to the end. This is the earliest creation, and such cute and humorous. Then, go listen to the whole 'Shapuno zoo' album, which spread on tracks 1 to 6. You can divide the listening to two parts, side I and side II originally. (Tracks 1-3 and 4-6 respectively). Side I, (or track 1-3 if you are young/modern/don't care about LP's anymore) is relatively simpler, uplifting and catchier. Side II, (tracks 4-6) is more complex, gloomy and atmospheric. After you feel comfortable with 'Shapuno zoo' (which might take some time, there are so many things here to absorb), take a deep breath and go listen to 'Omaggio a Futi'. This was quite hard stuff for me, but could make a very unique listening treatment.

After I've listened to this compilation, I purchased the original vinyl of 'Shapuno zoo'. I intended to buy it via rotary totem records, Grigsby's company, which holds many old LP's related, but all of a sudden it became unavailable, right when I actually was about buying it. Luckily I've found an old copy on E-bay, a bit scratchy but still OK. The original vinyl holds one more track, 'Diamonds for Fishhooks' which is the last one in this album. It's an atmospheric track, which closes the album very well.

I much recommend about this compilation, especially for those who are already like and appreciate the bit-latter U-totem s/t. It may appear as less communicative and 'rocking' than the U-totem s/t, but truly not a bit less valuable. This compilation has a lot of its own uniqueness, depth, beauty and subtle humor.