album reviews
Web Of Mimicry
Produced by Trey Spruance
Recorded by Trey Spruance, William Winant, Kris Hendrickson, KT Pierce, Jason Schimmel, Jai Young Kim, and Randall Dunn
Mixed by Trey Spruance with assistance from Kurt Schlegel
Mastered by David Cheppa
2009
This is a well conceived album, displaying superb musicianship, written and recorded by a brilliant musician in Trey Spruance. You may know of his work with Mr. Bungle, John Zorn, and Faith No More (his guitar playing on their ‘King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime’ album makes it one of their best). I’m a big, big fan of Spruance’s work. His creativity boggles the mind. He’s a multi-instrumentalist – most of the instruments he plays are stringed instruments from around the world, the names of which I can hardly pronounce. He’s an extremely talented producer and arranger. Check out any song from Mr. Bungles ‘California’ or ‘Disco Volante’ albums for proof of this.
Secret Chiefs 3 is Spruances main creative outlet since Bungle’s disbanding. He delved deeper into the extremes that Bungle was famous for – metal, Middle Eastern, surf, jazz. The Middle Eastern leanings are quite apparent in all of his work with SC3, but on this album it is mainly a deep love and respect for film music in the styles of Ennio Morricone and Bernard Hermann that comes through.
The album consists of one song which takes up two sides of an LP. It’s not an easy undertaking to listen in one sitting, but it is very worthwhile. Listening to the album almost feels like watching a psychological thriller. It’s very dark, moody, and tense. The album moves at the perfect pace to pull you in and have you anticipating its next direction.
The recording is pristine, yet rich, powerful and warm. Recorded in several different locations, but mixed down to tape by Spruance, the sound is consistent throughout. The mastering work is transparent and light-handed, allowing for great dynamic range, a hallmark of Spruance.
Stones Throw
Executive Producers: Peanut Butter Wolf and Leon Sylvers III
Recorded by Dam Funk
Mastered by Kelly Hibbert
2009
Dam Funk’s ‘Toeachizown’ sounds like it’s straight from 1983…and also, in a way, straight from 1993. The sounds and the vibe from this album are 100% authentic – this is electro g-funk at its best. A stripped down Cameo meets ‘The Chronic’.
In the liner notes, Dam Funk lists all of the musical gear that he used to create Toeachizown. He’s got an arsenal of synths and drum machines, but a comparatively small collection of recording gear used to capture his vintage sounds. This album shows that you don’t need a Neve or SSL board and racks of Fairchild and UA outboard gear to get a great sound. Great sounds begin at the source with synths like the Roland Juno and Baldwin Discoverer.
This is an excellent party album. It’s track after track of funk jams. There are a few slower songs thrown in to break it up, which is definitely necessary. The one gripe I have with the album (did I mention this is a double album?) is that the tracks have an average running time of close to 6 minutes. If each of them were whittled down by two minutes they would be more effective.
ipecac recordings
executive producers: Mike patton and john kaada
written, performed and mixed by Mike patton and john kaada
2004
Released in 2004, ‘Romances’ is another one of Mike Patton’s projects that seemingly has no precedent. I for one had certainly not heard anyone approach music and songwriting in the way that John Kaada and Mike Patton did for this album. Big, lush orchestration gives way to moments of sparse, delicate lines which in turn give way to an abrupt barrage of guitar, drums, bass and huge vocals. The vocals on ‘Romances’ are astounding for two reasons. The first – Patton’s vocal ability in terms of range, delivery and the way he’s able to emote. Secondly, while each song contains vocals, only one song has actual lyrics. All other songs are sung with wordless melodies and vocals placed here and there for effect, from whispers to gut-wrenching screams. Phenomenal stuff.