11 November 2007
Review _ Beast by Magic Dirt
11/Nov/2007 00:58 Filed in:Music
Reviews
Artist: Magic Dirt
Album: Beast
Label: Emergency Music
I actually bought this CD by mistake - but don't worry, both this story and the review become way more competent and end happily.
I'd read in the Drum Media that long-serving local grunge-noise rockers Magic Dirt had a new album out consisting entirely of extreme guitar distortion. 'This is for serious lovers of noise,' warned the press release. 'It's unlistenable to most of the population!' This kind of talk was magnetic to me and I hastened for a music shop. However, the band had a twin sister mini-album of rock-rock out at the same time, and I got the names of these two CDs mixed up. For the record, Beast is the rock-rock album, the one I bought and the one I'm reviewing here. Roky's Room is the noise record.
Disappointment at my mistake was quickly overcome by Beast's majesty. Here are seven tracks of scary, heavy rocking and alternately venomous and howling vocals. Opener Horror Me has an epic feel born of its octave-straddling riff and frontwoman Adalita's ghostly vocals, which sound like they're swimming through the guitar fuzz. The production's got a lo-fi/'indie'/swampy feel, with the drums back, vocals raw and all the noise at the front. Normally I'm way down on swampiness, but it seems to work for this record because the soundscape is mostly about the noise. Transients are down, texture is upfront. It doesn't sound too punchy through the air, but it is immersive.
For more joyously straight-ahead rockin' we've got tracks like Bring Me The Head Of... (I always want to say 'Alfred Garcia' at this point) and the popular and lyrically rudey-rude closer, Sucker Love. The other tracks have stop-start or quiet-then-freaking-loud dynamics which change up the pace of the album. Of these, Lead Room is my favourite, with its quiet all-minor creepiness which explodes into a chorus of massive desperation and beauty. And which possesses the Nirvana-like sonic quality which I describe as 'like being fed into a jet engine.'
This album feels longer than its half hour, and I mean that in the best possible way. It feels grand.
Album: Beast
Label: Emergency Music
I actually bought this CD by mistake - but don't worry, both this story and the review become way more competent and end happily.
I'd read in the Drum Media that long-serving local grunge-noise rockers Magic Dirt had a new album out consisting entirely of extreme guitar distortion. 'This is for serious lovers of noise,' warned the press release. 'It's unlistenable to most of the population!' This kind of talk was magnetic to me and I hastened for a music shop. However, the band had a twin sister mini-album of rock-rock out at the same time, and I got the names of these two CDs mixed up. For the record, Beast is the rock-rock album, the one I bought and the one I'm reviewing here. Roky's Room is the noise record.
Disappointment at my mistake was quickly overcome by Beast's majesty. Here are seven tracks of scary, heavy rocking and alternately venomous and howling vocals. Opener Horror Me has an epic feel born of its octave-straddling riff and frontwoman Adalita's ghostly vocals, which sound like they're swimming through the guitar fuzz. The production's got a lo-fi/'indie'/swampy feel, with the drums back, vocals raw and all the noise at the front. Normally I'm way down on swampiness, but it seems to work for this record because the soundscape is mostly about the noise. Transients are down, texture is upfront. It doesn't sound too punchy through the air, but it is immersive.
For more joyously straight-ahead rockin' we've got tracks like Bring Me The Head Of... (I always want to say 'Alfred Garcia' at this point) and the popular and lyrically rudey-rude closer, Sucker Love. The other tracks have stop-start or quiet-then-freaking-loud dynamics which change up the pace of the album. Of these, Lead Room is my favourite, with its quiet all-minor creepiness which explodes into a chorus of massive desperation and beauty. And which possesses the Nirvana-like sonic quality which I describe as 'like being fed into a jet engine.'
This album feels longer than its half hour, and I mean that in the best possible way. It feels grand.
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