Twelve - First Album
(Silber)
Twelve is a new side project from Chris(es) Olley (guitarist/vocalist) and Davis (drummer) of Nottingham dronesters, Six.By Seven [sic]. Opening with the ambient soundscape of the cleverly-titled "Intro," they set the stage for another entry in the marvelous "speaker hum" style of instrumental music popularized by Windy & Carl, Stars of the Lid, Eno, Landing, et. al. But then they make a 180° about-face for the minimalist, Low-meets-Swans folk song, "Talkin About." And just when you think the song can't get any sadder, a mournful violin straight out of Nick Drake's Bryter Layter sessions strolls into the room to tie your heartstrings up in a knot. Imagine Mojave 3 hopping in the sack with Godspeed You Black Emperor and eleven minutes later birthing something that belongs on Bill Callahan's next Smog album.
"Travelin Light" upsets the apple cart once again for a big beat, motorik instrumental that sounds like Olley has a lot of St. Etienne, Stereolab and Denim albums in his collection. However, at 71/2 minutes, it's too long and repetitive for my tastes and ends up ultimately sounding more like a tape loop than a song. "Never Let You Go" is a battle of the "3's": Spacemen and Mojave, while the lazily titled "One Seventeen" (it's length!) is another chance meeting of ambient soundscapes and hip-hop backbeats on a dissecting table. Unfortunately, the ridiculously metallic backbeats win, as they do on "Police Cars" as well.
All in all, a mixed blessing: if they could lose the horrible, headache-inducing techno noise and concentrate on the songs (as on the wonderful pop ballad in the best Holiday Flyer tradition, "Now"), they'd have a real winner. Perhaps they should have released the songs on a separate EP?
|
