On Phase Shifting

Without Reich, Math-Rock would have evolved into something somewhat duller. Extend this generic intro for your own pleasure if you like, but let’s write phasing. Phase shifting, in it’s simplest form, consists of two identical lines of music played at steady but very slightly varying tempos. Over time the lines will appear to fall out of time with each other. If the lines are looped, which they generally are in phasing, the music will appear, after a while, to fall back into time. This effect is very easy to achieve with, for example, two different tape players from Reich’s era playing identical tapes (tape players very rarely played cassettes at the same speed, although the variation was very subtle), but performing phasing live introduces a few difficulties.
 To begin with, it is very, very hard to ignore what is happening sonically around you. This becomes exponentially harder when you are trying to play the same looped line as the Korg SV1 88 Note ‘Stage Vintage’ Keyboard next to you, but at a slightly varied tempo. Furthermore, if you can ignore the sound around you, it would be incredibly difficult to create a tempo only so slightly varied as to allow the music an extended amount of time to evolve. A system, therefore, was created to overcome this.
 Phase shifting live, is very much the same as a round. The difference being once a line starts in a round it continues to the end and finishes or loops indefinitely at a defined interval to the other lines. Phasing allows the line freedom to move in time. It can be achieved by adding notes. So the first line loops indefinitely. The second line loops at first in phase with the first line, but at a determined moment the last semi-quaver in the line is shifted to the beginning of the bar, thus moving the line a sixteenth note out of time with the initial line. This practise can then be continued. Furthermore, rather than performing the melodies in time to begin with, introduce a few layers of the same melody, note-by-note, layer-by-layer, until a harmonically static texture is created of out-of-sync identical lines.
 The technique is as simple as that, and although it may not be a common mode of composition in math rock, texturally the influence is huge (just listen to Don Caballero 3 from What Burns Never Returns). Maybe I’ll explore polymeters next.
For now, a man playing Piano Phase on two pianos, little treat.

Head aega

On Young Mountain

So I have been listening to this post-rock band band, This Will Destroy You, from San Marcos again recently and thought I would share a thought or two about this 2006 EP. Yes it lacks the quirky track names and rediculous time-changes found in math-rock, but there is something sweet about this release. It is epic from the first second and never seems to rise above 100bpm. The guitars range from echoey clean sounds to massive distorted sound and everything has a brave amount of reverb on it. There isn't so much to distinguish this band from any other post-rock group that sound like Explosions in the Sky, but there is some strong material here. The melodies are catchy, it is depressing and reflective but still uplifting in many ways the only thing it lacks is pretension, and I have to concede I find this alot with post-rock. There is no sense of progression for the sake of it, which may be a good thing for some listeners, but I must admit I admire conceit and elitism within music. There is something beautifuly smug about a compoer or group which give the impression of thinking they know they are original or better than most. I really am a bit of a cunt aren't I?
Nevertheless, check this EP out:

http://www.last.fm/music/This+Will+Destroy+You/Young+Mountain

Rating?

2:1

Ma as-salaamah

On the Other Hand

On The Orange EP

I stumbled upon this band about half a year ago and thought they deserve a mention. Suffer Like G Did are an instrumental quartet playing jazzy-math-rock in very much the same vein as The Littlest Viking. First things first, the name. For those familiar with the Sega Dreamcast game House of the Dead 2, the name is a quote from a character involved. Yeah nice. Although a lot of the melodic lines sound 'simple' the harmony and texture involved is very bebop. There are plenty of start-stop section interchanges and, as on the second track, we essentially find just two different sections which build completely individually of each other (true binary form). In terms of technical ability, there is nothing exciting on this EP. Some of the bass lines are more interesting than what is generally found in math-bands and there are lots of sus chords, but nothing to write home about. The first track, Big Golden Capital A is certainly the most exciting and varied on the three track EP and is certainly worth listening to. In summary, what this band may lack in speed and ideas they make up for in space and warm chordal sections. You can listen here: http://www.myspace.com/sufferlikegdid.
In conclusion, I think this EP has earned:

2:2

 

Enjoy.

On Eating Happens

...and in August this year, Loose Lips Sink Ships released a split with Victor Villarreal called Eating Happens. Wow, that's odd. It's not that the two songs don't quite flow together (they don't), but more that after hearing what loose lips have to offer, I stop listening. I actually changed the track. I have no idea why whoever put this split together thought it was a good idea, but it wasn't. That said, and I will ignore the Villarreal track, the Loose Lips track is nothing short of incredible. It is complex, challenging and, above all, LLSS have stuck to what they do best: stop/start epic math-rock. The guitar lines are a mixture of long clean and fast melodies (I definately sense some right hand here) and distorted pauses. The drum track is as pleasing as ever, enough break beats and jazzy ride cymbals to satisfy Squarepusher. There is a sever lack of section repetition, to the tracks credit and an outro so atmospheric and layered Steve Reich would be proud (not to mention the mallets). Furthermore, it has the ludicrous name: Sarah Palin's Parasailing. I really rate this track (although not the split) so please have a listen and I award a grade of (for the track):

1st

You can hear Sarah Palin's Parasailing here:

http://looselipssinkships.bandcamp.com/album/eating-happens-7

On The Augmented Sixth

 Probably my second favourite secondary dominant and it’s an old one. There are four variations, three of which (Italian, German and French) are functional as secondary dominant chords (the fourth is known as the Swiss and is used more rarely). To describe the chord in its simplest form, it is an incomplete V7 of V with a lowered fifth. The Italian structure of the chord is, in four part harmony, lowered sixth; tonic (tenor); tonic (alto); raised fourth. It should now be obvious why it is called an augmented sixth now, because of the interval between the lowest and highest pitched notes. Yeah nice.

 Using it’s traditional functionality as a secondary dominant in C, we have the notes AbCCF# in the Italian chord. These resolve as follows: Ab down to G, lower C down to B, upper C rises to D and the F# resolves to G. Wow! We have now reached the dominant chord. The vibraphone setting on the Casiotone CT-370 works very well.

 Furthermore, we are not limited to this function. Take the French chord for example. Why not use it purely as a substitution (or rather re-enactment) of the dominant of the chosen key? Well the jazz world gave it a go. Radical.

 And it’s not just Jazz, Baroque and obscure romantic concertos we can explore the use of the A6. On you Yamaha YPT200-K, play an augmented sixth chord as I have described, but construct it on an arbitrary scale degree. A particularly obscure, not to mention quintessential, chord is that created by these means on the lowered second degree in a dominant seventh chord, but I need to leave some things to write about at later dates or I will clock too many hours on NBA Jam.

 So in summary, there are various ways to treat this chord and all add a colour and function to what may otherwise be dull superposition of sonic vibrations.

Patagonian Rats

So Tera Melos released Patagonian Rats on the 7th of September, and I feel utterly ambivalent. It's a far cry from Drugs to the Dear Youth, that's for sure. There are some inspirational melodies and interesting meters, but why did they decide to incorporate vocals? It is, of course, not the first time 'Melos have sung, their last couple of releases have contained vocals, but I had high hopes for another instrumental record. They can really play, and they have a great group dynamic, but the vocals are terrible. It is like a progressive Don Cab with a cross between Steve Sostak and Fat Mike up front(absolutely no offence to Sostak, I'm a big 'Johnny fan). It really detracts from the excellent instrumental work. I am not traying to sound like a purist, I am not entirely against the idea of vocalists in math-rock (I have to concede, I completely rate This Town Needs Guns), but please create Drugs.2!
This aside, the band have matured somewhat and created some really rather wonderful motifs. It is tight epic and has a brave amount of reverb. The harmonic nature of the record is reasonably simple, and less jazzy than previous releases. There is nothing groundbreaking here (despite what this review suggests: http://musicremedy.com/t/tera-melos/album/patagonian-rats-8835.html) and I'm unsure what the connection to the south of South America is, maybe they just wanted to share their knowledge of the Patagons, but it is worth a listen. It may prove to appeal to a non-math audience and I wish the band the best of luck. Unfortunately I cannot get over the vocals and as such award this a grade of:

2:2

You can listen to Patagonian Rats here: http://www.last.fm/music/Tera+Melos/Patagonian+Rats