Of Montreal - The Past is a Grotesque Animal

I just love this track. I probably listen to it at least once a day at the moment, usually on the walk from the ferry to work. 11m 53s gets me to my desk at a nice pace.

The reason that it’s a _mood_indicator is the relentless build up of tension through out the track. It starts out with a swirling synth, a couple of guitar squeals and a thumping bassline to set the tone. Then a simple guitar riff kicks in. This simmers for a minute or two before you get caught up in the narrative. World weary and caustic (there’s a bit of that going around) lyrics propel you forward.

Then the mousey girl screams violence. And the track that you thought couldn’t be wound any tighter, be put under any more stress gets turned up another notch. Such beautifully timed backing vocals increase your sense of unease, unease you feel for the protagonist. You identify with his angst, you’re right there with him except you’re not sure how you got there.

But there is hope. Dyer know, no matter where we are, we’re touching by underground wires?

 BJK MIA SYD BDO TLA OVR LÖD

So Bjork has gone missing from today’s Big day Out festival in Sydney. It was announced today, the day of her performance, that she strained reason  fans loyalty her vocal chords during her performance at the Opera House lastnight. It would be easy to take a cheap shot about Bjorks well being, and indeed, it is almost impossible to find a photo of the Icelandic star where she doesn’t look a few cans short.

There is no doubt that her otherworldly abilities make for some cracking tunes, and better remixes. So don’t fret that you’re not at BDO, because neither is BJK.

Amon Tobin - Foley Room

In the immortal words of John Cleese, and now for something completely different.
Amon Tobin, a brazillian with Irish parentage (hurrah) released his 7th album on Ninja Tune in October. Foley Room is a departure for Tobin because the album is inspired (and named after) the foley rooms where sound effects were recorded for films.

Found sounds and field recordings are nothing new, but Tobin manages to weave them with a cinematographer’s sensibility. In fact, the album could be accurately categorised as sonic fiction, it features jazz, d’n’b, dub and ambient passages, all out to the backdrop of borrowed beats. (Please excuse that little self indulgence. )

Tobin’s earlier influences have not necessarily faded. Ennio Morricone’s influence can heard on ‘Keep Your Distance’. ‘The Killers Vanilla’ is a dancehall murder scene and ‘Always’ is carnival dub step. It’s surprising that Tobin hasn’t scored much since his debut with Splinter Cell – Chaos Theory. My reaction to the music is to conjure up images the music would be a soundtrack for.

A worthy dream is that life could be exciting enough to have an Amon Tobin soundtrack.

THINK: Burial with David Holmes sense of the cimenatic
READ: Tobin’s myspace and homepage
WATCH: Foley Rooms Trailers 1 & 2
BUY: Foley Room at Amazon