Shivering Window – When We Were Metal

Bridgetown Records • August 12, 2014

Time for some more weird stuff today! Shivering Window is a left-field lo-fi pop band. the sort that defies simple classification and makes it very frustrating to write about. But they do make some pretty darn interesting music.

This is mainly a cassette release, and boy is that taken seriously. I have the digital version, and it still sounds like it was dug out of someone's basement in 1989—a bit of tape hiss and AC buzzing, telephone EQs, some tracks that sound like they were ripped from ancient reel-to-reels. If you put this album alongside a bunch of actual '80s and '90s underground-lo-fi-DIY tapes, I wouldn't know the difference.

Of course, this is an entirely good thing; I think the aesthetic fits Shivering Window's music perfectly and I don't think there's a better way for the music to be presented. Strip it all out and it's a pretty basic pop album, one that probably wouldn't be too terribly interesting and technically is a bit of a mess; but with its production, the drum machines and out-of-tune instruments and silly keyboards work together surprisingly well. And there are a handful of neat little riffs in there, like the guitar line in "Sloucher".

I'd say this album is probably an acquired taste, but for anyone like me who is remotely fascinated by underground tape culture, this is a great modern representation of that. It's not perfect by any means, as it sometimes seems a little too amateur for its own good, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth a listen.

Mason Mercer – Slobber

June 6, 2014 • self-released

Just a quick review today of a little EP that was recommended to me: Slobber is some kind of island neo-psychedelic art rock trip, with driving acoustic guitars in front of huge industrial drumming. It has this very ethereal and dreamy sound, helped by its clever use of samples and huge variety of different instrumental voices. It sounds pretty dense at times but never overbearing. When it's not so dreamy, it has some really great rhythms, (especially in "Scrappy Doo"); I've rarely heard acoustic guitar sound quite so heavy.

It's a bit repetitive and all the songs are pretty much the same (although "The Water Helps" has this really cool heavy rhythm in it about halfway through), but there's clearly a lot of production talent here regardless. Definitely an EP worth a couple spins. I'd be interested in something a little more full-featured.

Björk – Biophilia

October 10, 2011 • One Little Indian Records

So I've been a Björk fan for some time now, and I have even enjoyed Medúlla and Volta considerably even though people seem to think she's been going downhill lately. After listening critically to Biophilia, I am going to have to agree; it is unfortunately a pretty dull album that doesn't offer anything new or better than her older material.

I think probably one of the biggest issues with this album is that it seems like Björk has gotten a bit too comfortable with her sound, and the music is suffering because of it. Nothing here sounds too much different from Volta: it's very vocal-centric, with instrumentation simply supporting the vocals in the background. The music does pull out some really creative stuff here and there, using some unique instruments (for a pop album), but most of the music is not very attention-grabbing. Instead of Homogenic's dark and dirty beats or Post's eccentric and theatrical numbers, Biophilia is mostly very quiet—and very safe. A lot of the time the music feels like it is going nowhere and many songs just end out of the blue, which feels awkward. There is the occasional awesome exception, though, like the neat drum and bass-ish sections in "Crystalline", "Sacrifice", and "Mutual Core". They aren't very Björk-sounding and kind of come out of nowhere, but they are refreshing to hear and work pretty well in context (not to mention they are about the only times the beats get really interesting).

I feel like I should discuss the vocals some since it is a pop album but honestly like I said if you've heard Volta you've heard this as well. They are very typical for her style and while they certainly aren't bad, they aren't very interesting either, especially for someone like me who listens to music for the music, where vocals support the music and not vice versa. So obviously it will probably appeal to some more than others, but it doesn't do anything for me.

I had some pretty high hopes for this album and I liked the album on the first couple listens, but now I don't, and I think that made the disappointment even worse. Fortunately we still have a handful of very strong earlier albums from her to listen to, even if we aren't going to get that quality of material out of her anymore.

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