Month of June , 2005

Bright Eyes
"When the President Talks to God"
(c) 2005 Saddle Creek
Free song download on iTunes
Free video stream on iFilm

This is a very simple ditty that came too late after the 2004 election (what I like to casually refer to as The Great Disaster). Conor Oberst, a.k.a. Bright Eyes, attempted to become the torch-bearer for the MoveOn.org generation with I'm Wide Awake it's Morning, but unfortunately even his most acclaimed album to date couldn't buoy a dead-in-the-water candidate or spark the public interest of the dead-brained titty bar patronizing masses.

"President" is further proof that Conor aimed for the right demographic lyrically, but missed his mark musically. It also does nothing to hide his vitirol. Critics and music lovers may appreciate the dusty chair saloon sound draped over Morning and this song, but that ever fickle 18-24 youth vote passed over it and cast their vote with the Ignorance Is Bliss party line while booty-grinding their way to the Apocalypse with Usher's "Yeah!" blaring in the PA.

Zelda Pinwheel
with an unending string or patchwork
(c) 2004 Transparent Voice Records

This record is the sound of a refined Zelda Pinwheel, who have matured their recording and engineering capabilities. Hailing from various parts of New Jersey in the United States, Zelda Pinwheel is a hair raising "melodic ambient" band that started with front man Steven Quranta as a solo act and has grown in manpower to be a four piece.

With every show and release they have also grown in their abilities and prowess. Their previous releases, serenty (in hindsight) and ...one tear to this fabric... were promising recordings of a band that hadn't quite figured out how to capture their vision and power. Their latest effort is the band hitting the mark in stride.

The record opens with "circles for the blind," a tune that the band has been kicking around at live shows for a few years now, and previously released as a live cut. Everytime this group performs a piece, they are performing a new variation that will never be reproduced. "circles for the blind" is the perfect example of how the band has added to its sound with decorative and driving percussion, tape loops, swirling guitars, and a pulsing bass. Around 5:30 the tune changes tack from a swirling ambient piece to a drum beat and machine driven funk.

"Alone at the Mimespeak" continues the psychedelic delay improvisation exploration, jumping into a drum/beat/loop driven funk towards the end, finally boiling down to a low and distorted bass noise. The techno melody near the end and the end itself are intense and fascinating.

For me, the record seems to slow down a bit at "If I had a tower...", because the band has repeated the theme of opening and closing songs with distorted radio voice (a la godspeed you black emporer) and swirling but loosely defined guitar delays three times. At this point, the band makes up for it, and it is at "India in a Box" where the album moves up to another artistic level, for the rest of the album exploring sounds that, to my knowledge are new territory for the group. "India in a Box" is a fucking beautiful and glimmering acoustic guitar piece that segues into "The Disembodied Lady".

Did I say "segues"? I meant to say that the way it crashes into "The Disembodied Lady" is like the feeling you get when the roller coasts shoots out from under you to fly down into some crazy loop cork screw thing - your stomach and your body moving at different speeds, an exhilirating disorientation.

"The Disembodied Lady" opens up with a bass sound that I familiarize with Lightning Bolt. The soaring/searing guitar over it is just an insane thing. The vocals sound pretty tortured, but are at the same time somewhat adventurous, holding big blasts on pitches that are unexpected in the piece. I'm not crazy about Quranta's voice, but I find it fitting in the composition. This is a track that absolutely touched me, and also impressed me in terms of production and mixing.

"In the East They Build Beautiful Flowers" -- a beautiful, "melodic ambient" piece. Something in the sweet, melancholy melody and jaunt of the piano and djembe, something here reminds me of "My Blue Heaven."

This song, with its beautiful piano and mysterious percussive accompaniement (not to mention the slide whistle) is a joy to listen to.

The closing track "Nothing yet circles red robots?", is a near-sixteen-minute excursion that begins with percussion and Synth Gone Wild. Or is it some kind of radio device? a trip into the ambient and sparse follows, then a jam or build or development of a beat and melody that turns finally into a bouncy, followable hook that fades the moment you've finally gotten comfortable with it, being overtaken by a derivative trip into percussion and radio signals or theremins. And that's only the first 8 minutes.

The closing track certainly makes a statement about the band's interest and commitment to music that tends towards the surreal, forcing the listener to experience and interpret, rather than providing an easy story to follow. No rules, here people. This may in fact be my favorite track on the record.

with an unending string or patchwork is an incredibly coherent piece of music and audio entertainment that is professionaly recorded and produced by the band itself without the help of a major label. Very high art that is very well done. In addition to their most polished recordings to date, patchwork features Zelda Pinwheel's most polished packaging and artwork. With a beautiful front cover of a diorama made by the band (featured again in a back cover photo from a distance in a swamp), trim folded and glued paperboard (possibly done very cleanly by hand), and a montage image pressed onto the CD itself, it's really something special.

I've asked the band by e-mail if they wouldn't mind revealing what it cost them to make this release possible, in terms of studio cost and the cost of actual production of the disc and artwork.

The record was recorded and produced by the band with help from Gabe Monago (sayeth the back cover). This is an impressive record for a do-it-yourself group, and other independent acts ought take heed of what is possible.

You can purchase the record from the band's merch page. I received my copy in a little over a week. You'd be crazy not to drop the five measley yanqui pesos on this groundbreaking record.

Tracklisting:

1. circles for the blind
2. alone at the mimespeak
3. If I had a tower...
4. India in a Box
5. The Disembodied Lady
6. in the east they build beautiful flowers
7. Nothing yet circles red robots?