This is a frustrating EP: moments (about six) of powerful restraint by a mostly powerless trio padded out and out and out with half an hour of breathtaking self-indulgence. The opening track is an improvised piece just over six minutes long and comprised of mumbling (right channel) drum snippets (center) and bass guitar gurgles (left channel) that begs the listener to act upon its title. "KILLMEKILLMEKILLME" never coalesces, having already fallen apart and remained satisfied as something that got broke and stayed that way. But to truly test the listener, "Away" begins with eight minutes of nearly the same: the punishment here being that you don't know it's only eight minutes worth until you're eight minutes in. And considering what precedes this, coupled with the fact that before the eight minute mark arrives you're now staring at another improvised piece clocking in at over 24 minutes, the opening proffers the very real threat of a seemingly horizon-free bout with even more petit mal induced solipsism. Gratefully a break does come, offering about five minutes of soto voce playing: low, modulated bass throbs (left), some simple six or eight note plectrum guitar (right) and utterly inconsequential drumming (center).
Still, something stirs now and again that is reminiscent of Can in the Damo Suzuki days: a Tago Mago of muttered non-speak, some Bamyasi pulls on guitar strings and incomprehensibly dazing low bass rumbles. There's also a vague echo of Peter Green's get-me-the-hell-outta-here post-Fleetwood solo, End of the Game, with its bluesy haze, abstract excursions and that churning Dmochowski bass (Dunbar, anyone?). But as GMFTPO slips back into a warm babble bath for another ten minutes prior to closing out "Away" with a slightly faster version – now with feedback (!) and wah (!) – of what we've already heard, the facts are hurtful and plain: these guys can't play like Can or Green, they don't think sound might relate to music and assume it's best to keep both separate and they're not as brave as they think in eschewing structure.
You Take Me To The World lacks the cachet of the avant garde and hasn't a clue about the transformative insights of bands like The Necks. But the main derailleur at work is GMFTPO's apparent acceptance of anything that happens to happen during the happenin' – the result of a severely misguided trust in artistic infallibility.
Track Listing
01) KILLMEKILLMEKILLME
02) Away
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
