- Audio CD (26 Oct 2009)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Angular Recording Corporation
- ASIN: B002MB0X2U
- Other Editions: MP3 Download
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 215,446 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
Jubilee Offer: Patriotic Classics for £2.50 |
Product details |
Product Description
Review
Gyratory System are a strange, minimalist/maximalist instrumental dance quartet who have one foot placed firmly in the theory heavy, avant-garde camp and the other planted squarely on an underlit disco floor. They have produced one of 2009's most memorable albums in The Sound-Board Breathes, drawing clear and easy lines between the early chiming rave of Orbital, the 20th century composition of Philip Glass, the fourth world adventurism of Jon Hassell and the mechanical sounding drum funk of Liquid Liquid. It is, by rights, an album that should get an equally admiring reception from those who subscribe to The Wire as those who read Mixmag.
Yet in these highly proscribed, deeply conservative times, they also represent a band that's hard to explain, hard to pigeonhole and hard to market. The rhythm/riff/hook production unit centres round the undeniable talents of Dr Andrew Blick, someone who has been working behind the scenes and on the periphery of alternative music since the early 90s. (In fact, avuncular Radio One DJ John Peel once jokingly threatened to have him banned from the show, such was his ubiquity as a guest musician in the Maida Vale studios.)
But his trademark – playing heavily treated trumpet through effects until it becomes unclear what the listener is actually hearing – has now gone from being an addition to other people's records to being the focal point of Gyratory System. And if Andrew is of a certain vintage then it may come as a surprise to some to find out that his dad is also in the band, playing a dizzying array of woodwind and brass making them sound like a British family butchers’ future-funk take on the J.B.’s.
Basically they use Andrew's ‘process’ to create a chiming and tuneful backing track, over which they get the rest of the band (Laurie Waller on drums and James Weaver on bass) and themselves to improvise over the top. So while the music is undeniably European, mainly identifiable as British and drawing inspiration from many time periods, there is also an undeniable link to the looped organic rave of Holy F***, F*** Buttons and Animal Collective. From the Boys Brigade rave of Barons Court Trumpet all the way to the North London Kraftwerk-gone-unplugged of Holloway Road, not only is this a superb album but you won't hear another one like it all year. --John Doran
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Customer Reviews
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
