BLACK & WHITE MASS

a.P.A.t.T.

RIO/Avant-Prog

3.30 | 8 ratings

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octopus-4
Special Collaborator
RIO/Avant/Zeuhl,Neo & Post/Math Teams

A name comes to my mind: FRANK ZAPPA. This band from the Northwest (of UK) is crazy, skilled, grotesque but also funny, approachable and eclectic.

This album was available as free download when the band was suggested for inclusion and I have to say that my very first impression was already good.

The muisicianship and the richness of ideas can be appreciated since from the firsts of an incredible number of tracks. Without counting some interludes of just a bunch of seconds, the three "untitled" (just loops played reversed", there are 24 short tracks in this album. I think only the Ramones were able to put so many songs in one hour album.

The influences, or the genres touched by this album are very various. ZAPPA is the reference specially in songs like "FireBird", "The Holy Toad" and "The Stars Spell Out Your Name", but we can hear echoes of Post-Punk, British Glam, Musical, even Pop music or we can go deep in noisy psychedelia or have all of the above in a single track like "Avajibber".

You can't get bored with the big variety of things in this album with three minutes songs which change theme up to three - four times. Well, most of the songs don't reach three minutes in length.

There's a big variety of instruments used, too. Instruments of any kind and probably some invented directly by the band members. "Whisky Priest" is very fun and I think ZAPPA would have liked it. The final of this song with loops and noises, and the following "An Oaf Climbing a Fence" make me think also to RON GEESIN.

There are also songs that can remind to CARDIACS or they predecessors DEVO. Everything very British in any case. Let's mention also the hypnotic "Young Free And Parasite" and the crazy "Grope Cunt Lane" . Let's have fun with "Happiness", absolutely crazy to finish with the longest track (5 minutes) that is made of just a sort of bell sound for the first 4 minutes that's replaced by more usual instruments in the last minute.

A very good and promising album for who likes the genre. Not for everybody, even though it's approachable enough.

octopus-4 | 3/5 | 2012-5-21

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