Two is the most recent EP from The Mobius Band, a trio
of nice young men living in Massachusetts. It is a
concoction of funk, jazz, rock, and plenty of
electronic stuff, and although mixing genres is common
these days, The Mobius Band, for the most part, does
not sound common because of the way they put the
genres together in their songs.
The songs on Two have surprising structure--they often
deviate dramatically from how they started, like "Taxi
Cab," which begins with catchy acoustic guitar, soft
singing, and subdued bass. Suddenly, electronic sounds
and chaotic drumming break in, but then it's back to
the original acoustic theme. The song eventually ends
up in what I can only describe as a psychedelic,
electronic, free-form jazz thing, with super funky
bass and drums holding everything together, while
spacey synthesizers and samples come and go.
Even though the songs usually sound original,
sometimes they sound like mini-reproductions of Kid A,
like in "The Lights Are Always On," when melancholy
synthesizers mix with horns, and in "2 Kinds of
Light," when the ending has a spacey, desolate sound.
But it's hard to describe what The Mobius Band's songs
are like because the music changes so much within each
song. Although some people might have to get used to
this disjointedness, there are so many cool moments in
Two that it is worth the effort.
Particularly nice is the warm, full sound of the
drums/drum machine and keyboards in "The Lights Are
Always On," which is added to by lovely singing and a
silvery cornet. And "Themesong" is especially lovely
for its rainy-day feeling made with warm bass,
electric guitar, and brushed drums. This song builds
on itself gradually, with the guitar becoming more
prominent and embellished by some slide guitar in the
background. Although each instrument changes in
intensity or complexity, this song doesn't deviate
much from its original theme; the guitar repeats it
throughout. "Themesong" is more simple than the other
songs, but it stands out anyhow.
The Mobius Band is on a mission to let us know about
all the new possibilities in music. Each song on Two
is an attempt to take rock, jazz, funk, electronic
music, or other genres, and have us hear them in a way
we never have before.
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