Tag Archives: herbert powell

Stream: Herbert Powell – “Here in my Scheme, Here it Ends”

Back with more (mostly) instrumental experiments is Herbert Powell. I’ve spent a little more time with this recording than I did with the last one, mainly because there is just more here. But I also naturally feel the need to compare everything, to create some narrative of a trajectory, because really one can’t think of songs or albums as separate units, but rather just an update on the development of an artist’s own sound.

This album is more contemplative in tone than their last. The contrapuntal busyness of “Hell and Sebastian” is replaced with a bit more formal structure and conversational elements between the members of the ensemble. Ideas become more developed and less haphazard.

Take for example “Hell Farm.” The song starts out with a simple idea introduced by the guitar and the remainder of the song seeks to expand on it little by little. Things drift away and then come back; the band allows themselves to wander a bit, to explore, but never loses sight of the path.

“My Glass Teeth” (sarcastic Steely Dan reference?) is a bit more complex in it’s intertwining melodic lines, and continuously developing structure. Perhaps that really is a Steely Dan reference then.

Overall the album feels like a conversation that we’re walking into as listeners. The opening track starts in the middle, already in progress, and throughout the 8 tracks we are allowed to have a peek inside Herbert Powell’s process. It’s a fun little journey filled with all sorts of odd and interesting timbres, changes and turns of phrase, and even a few moments of strange haunting beauty (ie the ending of “I Love My Fleeto”).

I’m already looking forward to the next psychedelic experimental jam that these dudes put out.

 

 

Week in review: January 27th-31st, 2014

In case you missed a few posts this week, here is a really quick rundown of what was going on:

Monday: Some experimental instrumental jangly art rock in the style of Women and Captain Beefheart. Check out Herbert Powell’s release “Hell and Sebastian” on their bandcamp.

Stream: Herbert Powell – “Hell and Sebastian”

Tuesday: The tenth part of my continuing series that recounts growing up with Sonic Youth. This week I talked about their 1998 album “A Thousand Leaves.”

In Memoriam Sonic Youth Part X: “A Thousand Leaves”

Wednesday: New psychedelic synth work from Black Unicorn and Cane Swords, both out of Akron, Ohio, and both with tapes coming out on Portland’s Field Hymns.

Stream New Music from Field Hymns: Black Unicorn and Cane Swords

Thursday: Take a listen to Spray Paint’s abrasive detuned sound with songs from their latest, “Rodeo Songs.”

Stream: Spray Paint – “Rodeo Songs”

Friday: Check out the perfect pop of Jasmin Kaset whose album “Quiet Machine” was just released this past week.

Stream: Jasmin Kaset – “Quiet Machine”

Stream: Herbert Powell – “Hell and Sebastian”

Lo-fi, jangly, experimental instrumental tunes coming your way today courtesty of Herbert Powell. The influence of Women (and latter day Women offshoot Cindy Lee), Polvo, and maybe some Beefheart and Jandek, are worn proudly on their sleeves. I can’t help but hear a little shade of Do Make Say Think in there too, maybe not so much in the guitars, but there is definitely something about the drum sound that makes me think of Do Make Say Think.

De-tuned, coarse, loose, but never falling out completely. Quiet and unassuming in timbre and volume – no squealing bursts of feedback, no ultra distorted fuzz-tone. I don’t even hear so much as a delay pedal. Just a little bit of echo from the room and they are off and running.

What I like most about bands that are able to make this kind of music well isn’t so much how much noise they can make, or how far out they can go with their harmonies, but how much they can stretch the structure of a song without losing the listener completely. For all the ramshackle quality on the surface there is still an obvious bit of planning that is going into these songs. Just listen to the bass. The bassist is almost hiding in the back of the mix, but it’s really anchoring everything.

Speaking of Beefheart, the track “Snout Mask Replica” shifts between a spacious and slow section and a contrasting fast and rambunctious one. Dare I say it that there is even a part that functions like a bridge. Great shapes all around. And check out the counterpoint going on at the beginning of “Cider Goth.” The song just starts to form out of a cloud, picking up steam as it goes. Guitars wrapping themselves around each other, coming together, falling apart again, grinding to a halt, pushing forward. The entire song works like the outro of Women’s “January 8th” (which in itself is taking an idea from Velvet Underground’s “Heroin”) where the tempo is in flux, speeding up as the song takes off and then slowing as things start to come apart again. It’s all pretty tightly controlled though.

Finally, “Aldo Huxley” is an oddly touching way to end. Despite the chugging guitar that attempts to eschew delicacy, there are some moments in there where the guitars match up in such a perfect way. Those little moments happen periodically throughout not just this closing track, but the entire release. If you listen for those, giving everything a really close reading, you’ll be glad you did.

Head over to Bandcamp to download this gem. It’s only £1 ($1.64), but you can always feel free to throw in a bit extra. You can stream it above, or on the bandcamp page.