Yeah NO's best yet
bimwa | Australia | 03/10/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Chris Speed's Yeah NO made "Emit" only a year after their previous effort "Deviantics", and yet the change is remarkable! Speed's writing (still with an underlying Eastern European flavour) has really progressed - his tunes are quite beautiful here, while "Deviantics" seemed a bit more rushed, and as a result, less memorable. The musicians are firing as usual - Speed on clarinet and tenor sax, Cuong Vu on trumpet, Skuli Sverrisson on bass and Jim Black on drums (and melodica). It is noteworthy that the band toured this material before recording (info from the Songlines website), this no doubt helped to make the recording gel so well.The variety of "Emit" is great also. There is Yeah NO's usual driving rock, the most interesting example being 'Constance and Georgia' with its shifts of themes and tempos. 'Berance' is probably the grooviest Yeah No tune yet. 'Tangents' is a chaotic montage of jazz phrases. And 'Tralala' is a beautiful change of pace, with Jim Black on melodica.Black is, as with most of his recordings and performances, a highlight. The variety of Speed's tunes owe something to the amazing variety of the drummer's arsenal, from his trademark off-kilter playing to his imitation electronic beats to all-out chaos.Nice tunes, good variety, an excellent band. High praise to Speed and co. for a great album!"
Muscular cool
bimwa | 05/01/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"the clarinet playing is the best i've heard for a while, and that's not to say there's anything wrong with chris speed on sax. what really makes this record amazing, however, is the drumming of jim black. he's like a slightly more rock-oriented jack dejohnette. and then there's the incredible trumpet of cuong vu, perhaps the most interesting new trumpet player around."
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1