Search - Sonic Youth, I.C.P., Ex :: In the Fishtank 9

Guitar noise from the jazz end

D. Archibald | Bedford, MA USA | 11/19/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There are some albums that you never imagined existed, but when you see them you have to get them right away; this was one of those for me. 'What's this? New Sonic Youth? With ICP and The Ex?!' How could I resist? So I picked it right up, and it didn't disappoint. From the thoughtful (if not quite delicate) drum salvo that introduces the first tune to the exhausted guitar sigh that ends the intense last number, the album is a delightful record of a moment of true musical communication.There's a definite jazz feeling about this recording, and it's due to more than just the presence of two ICP Orchestra horn players and ICP drummer Hans Bennink's guiding hand. The whole thing was recorded in just one day, and as there aren't any 'tunes' we can safely imagine that everything presented here is a first take: the things that didn't turn out as well just didn't make it onto the record. This means that the emphasis is on the interplay between the musicians, who let us listen in as each number develops from the grain of an idea into a complete whole.Of course, there are people (probably lots) who will say that they don't pay to hear development, and that anyways all this just sounds like noise. In reality, though, the tracks on this album are far from homogeneous. I won't say they 'repay careful listening,' because that would just mean they don't sound good from the start: what they do repay is listening for more than one superficial second and then saying 'I don't get it.' 'IV,' the second track (as free improvisations the tunes don't have titles, and the numbers aren't all in order), is held together by a fractured electronic walking bass line provided by Ex bassist Luc Ex, while the guitars, horns and percussion gradually swell over it into a wall of sound and then recede again into individal exclamations. 'V' is a duet between Wolter Wierbos' muted trombone and a guitar (Thurston Moore, is my guess), backed up by delicate percussion playing, while 'VI' features probing clarinet explorations (from Ab Baars) over halting bass figures. The last track, 'X,' has the most regular rhythm of anything on the album, but the beat still seems to grow organically out of the improvisations, and feels all the more powerful for that (the drumming on this one is a thing of beauty).Fans of Sonic Youth should be aware that this album is much more like the SYR series than it is any of the Sonics' more commercial recordings, but that shoudn't turn them off. The noise on this record is just an extension of things like 'The Diamond Sea' and 'Karen Revisited,' with the addition of other thoughtful musicians--some of whom inspired Sonic Youth to begin with--and you can hear the joy that all the participants in this musical communication. It sounds good for its own sake too."

Instant Composing

Jared S Harkness | Seattle, WA United States | 11/25/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I imagine there are people who will hear this album and dismiss it as crap. Random sounds and notes strung together without any rhyme or reason. But those are the people who think that "music" is just what you hear on MTV, and this is certainly not the cd for them. This is all about walking into a studio with no plans, or ideas, and just making art. They don't try to shape it into something beautiful or pop sensible, they just let it happen, and that in itself is beautiful. It's unusual, for sure, but that doesn't make it bad. So much music out there is just copying the Beatles, or the Clash, or Elvis, or whatever, but this cd is 100 percent original."

This is really experimental stuff

Juan P. Holguera | Madrid, Spain | 10/24/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I am a big fan of Sonic Youth and all of their records. I specially like their noisy stuff for their own label: SYR. This is just like those ones. So if you like them, get this one; but if you don't, you better don't try."