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Oh...oh. That... is... impressive.
Well. And I met a Miocene man on the train a year or so ago:
fare-dodging the Overground eastwards curving along the top of London.
He was all right and we had a bloody good long chat about music - good
music - and he talked about this album they were hard working on, and
how they were violently pissed off with coward metal, how they didn't
give a toss and were going to do what they REALLY wanted this time
(and I thought, yep, that one again). And he talks about what music
he's into and he's agreeing with my pigheaded old mantra of 'uncommercial
is the new commercial, go weird, etc' and he's saying: we're already
there... the memory is hazy but I'm sure he mentioned Aphex Twin and
real drum 'n bass and a few prog things like he knew what he was
talking about, in a manner that made me pay an increasing amount of
attention. Said something about DIY and underground culture like he
meant it; something determined and impressive cut through his laid
back manner.
Then I had to get off at Camden or
somewhere, and Miocene man carried on to do something seedy in
delightful Homerton. And that was that, just another nice musician
bumped into, but the vibe if not the details stuck in my head. And
now, this. Blimey - a band that keeps its promises. And beyond. Sorry,
I just did not take Miocene man's beautiful claims of adventure and
true cross-pollination and sweet influences seriously. I should have.
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This is one hell of an album. This is one hell of a statement: a year
zero. This is what you long to hear every time you put a new record
on. Balls. Integrity. Art. Zeitgeist. And it rocks, always a bonus.
This works on so many levels, its hard to know where to start. It's
deeply, densely complex in a way that the ear can grasp; it hints at
the attitude and vibe of London's true invisible underground; its
taken on board that and the burgeoning glitch/electronoise/rock
culture; it's goes more places musically that most film soundtracks;
it's as progressive as it gets; it's seamless, bringing these elements
together in a way that can only be the result of a bunch of musicians
living and breathing the influences.
I don't think you could create more suitable music for this moment in
time and space. This is a London sound, the sound of anger, of the
awake finally burning up through the dead weight of apathy. 'A Perfect
Life With A View Of The Swamp' is a massive work, a
shut-in-a-studio-for-two-years kind of work that's somehow not
self-indulgent, but self-aware. Necessary. Needed. And so musically
accomplished, but playing these dense, super-changeable riffs,
embedded in songs with just the right level of change vs repetition:
enough repetition to hook you in, enough change to keep your brain
alert.
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Time to haul out the comparisons:
Tool, for a start, but better. More adventures, more sounds, changes.
Let's mention the superb production, preserving the ever-changing
textures, a vital part of the energy... A little Dillinger Escape Plan
and Sikth, in a few dollops; Goldie, Roni Size, Talvin Singh but
darker, (no doubt anonymous sounds on a late night pirate station);
computer games, the Fight Club soundtrack; a Hammond, delivered in a
Van Der Graaf style... so much stuff in there.... System Of A Down,
glitched-out... The Streets, or maybe that unbelievably good rapping
those gangs of kids do on the station after Carnival... the soundtrack
is already out there.
Miocene have ears, they've picked up
things, and wrapped them in dark pathos, highs and lows, trains of
thought, real emotions. Miocene are the opposite of complacency. And
'A Perfect Life...' is the prefect statement for right now, forget
everything you think you know about Miocene, they just dropped a very
important album, a very big album, music is progressing on a weekly
basis, they went out past 65DaysOfStatic and made a real prog rock
album, they made one of the best albums you’ll have heard in ages and
ages….. |
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