By the Pricking of My Thumb | |||||
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Where Echoes End: By the Pricking of My Thumb (Beaks Ahoy - 1998) Definitely an impressive endeavor, By the Pricking of My Thumb is artful, thoughtful, historical, educational and more than a little bleak. A bit disjointed too, but how could anyone neatly wrap up the messy business we call Man's Inhumanity to Man? Through genre-jumping synthwork and hundreds of well-chosen samples, Where Echoes End turns a rueful eye on our human legacy... |
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We are immediately invited to Disengage...disengage...disengage via a swirling miasma of haunted space sounds and dozens of fragmented ghost voices. Tinkling chimes and cosmic pulses are suddenly overpowered by a drumbeat, grungy synth and ethereal whorls, all of which fade and segue into the crickety chirps and jungle drums which open the primitive electro-murk of Ripples on a stagnant pond; tribal chants and drone merge with the craziness of samples from life's madhouse. Machinery overtakes, rumbling and pounding, paving the way for... Life as animation, where modern synth tricks meld with a bright 8-bit computer game tune. The "self-destruct" and "we are controlling transmission" samples may be a bit overused.
Mirrored Enya-like vocals, tribal beats, and synth flutes with medieval-ish accompaniment make for the Dead Can Dance-y Inventor of the invisible world where spoken (movie, TV and documentary) samples are starting to be woven into the fabric of the disc. In Terra incognita, discussion (within a bracingly somber symphonic drift) turns to God and science and the human conflicts therein. Movie snippets and chants speak for the American Indians in I tell the truth, even when I lie. A "strange story of noses, blood, dreams and the beginnings of psychoanalysis" unfolds in Opinions divided, an icon-toppling look at Sigmund Freud by way of early patient/guinea pig Emma Eckstein. Quite interesting! A cast of thousands explores Nazi Germany through historical samples and piano, followed up naturally by Allied retaliation with Only in war. Moody organs and strings lead into Our lowest ebb I and II (8.51), where the Ku Kux Klan shares the stage with the Oklahoma City Bombing, which continues into Our lowest ebb III and IV with a similar musical backdrop, and moves into abortion clinic violence. After a long piano and string interlude, the topic is execution. The strings carry over for the next track, but a dance beat and diva kick in for a disjointedly different style Syndication I. The mood changes again, for the darker, in Syndication II; deep strings, electronic drones and frantic ethnic chatter are backed by a rock beat, which is quickly replaced by a light harp and synth wave refrain. The soft music underlies a heartbroken sob, and the dark sounds return. Through stirring speech samples and swelling synths, Trust me examines race issues in America, and I'm here but I'm not all there gets spookier music and sound effects which point toward madness. Spacey abstractions segue into A stranger to reason, another zone of surreality where disorienting noises, instruments and panning effects make for an especially bizarre atmosphere. Quiet female mutterings and reporter samples infuse The human condition (1:52) with insight. A sharp warble and speedy electronic drumming throw us into another yet another musical dimension with Ad infinitum, high-tech chaos which suddenly cuts out. Deep amorphous blurbles and echoey piano mix with muffled samples as Reengage...reengage...reengage closes this introspection. |
| From their Australian home, Eddie Katz and Paul Read (with help from Mark Rachelle) have self-released a rough masterpiece. I think a bit of editing could have sharpened the edges somewhat, but this work is truly eye-opening. Their judicious choice and use of samples add a "documentary" feel to the dark strokes of their music. By letting these words speak for themselves, the overall piece avoids preachiness, seeming instead to be an outside observer of man's often shameful history. Learn more at the Where Echoes End website. A 7.1 from me. |  |