a r t i s t : Fantastic Ego
t i t l e : Ego Trip the Light Fantastic
d a t e : 2007
l a b e l : Phantom Limb
c a t : ARM002
s o u r c e : CDDA
g e n r e : Psychedelic/Chamber-Pop/New Wave
r l s. d a t e : Apr/2007
t r a c k s : 06
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 52,9 MB
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From Ged Gengras (Antique Brothers) comes this accomplished
take on the new wave pop song ("Down in the Park") and some
inspired no wave guitar and sonica instrumentals. For fans of
Current 93 and any Beta-Lactam Ring releases.
-Animal Psi -
Fantastic Ego is a pseudonym for what very well could be
another fake name, Ged Gengras of the guitarioed Antique
Brothers (who have anti-sequentially released their fifth
volume of guitar music entitled æEmerge, Murky SunlightÆ, also
on Phantom Limb); and from the top of æEgo Trip the Light
FantasticÆ, ôHiding Smokeö and subsequent ôBusted Turnstileö
appear an Antique Brothers extension, brooding in noogie-reach
of big brother Six Organs of Admittance. In fact, this is a
pretty spectacular facsimile for ChasnyÆs ôbest ofö -
particularly the chord-structures and chant of the
introduction (with guest vocals from Phantom Limb/(VxPxC)Æs
Grant Capes, who also mastered Ged's remarkably dense
home-made recordings). Despite the fine quality of these
tracks, for the sake of variety, the disc really gets good
when the muted voice-and-electric-organ hymnal ôIÆd Like to
Beö breaks hard in a new direction with only slight (electric)
guitar accompaniment, leading gracefully into the guitar-pop
song ôToeing the Lineö: introducing machined pop beats and
severe electric guitar riffage, the track comes disfigured (in
a good way) with saturated production, the whole deal sounding
like a fourth-generation Smithereens dub (in a good way). The
discÆs 14-minute centerpiece ôTape Loop Symphony #1ö û neither
a highlight nor simple filler - stacks a handful of tracks
(both vocal and guitar-derived) atop a very much live acoustic
folk song, the symphony playing itself as marks fall in and
out of sync, moving steadily between cacophony and warm
harmony. In closing, we are offered a contemporary rendition
of Gary Numan/Tubeway ArmyÆs "Down in the Park" (with a
special - yet ultimately empty - challenge to ôspot the
illegal sampleö); however, the decades between versions would
appear reversed, as GedÆs acoustic guitar ring and Eastern
string arrangements reach to the heart of early psychedelia,
incorporating able shifts between chamber-pop verse and raga
refrain. ItÆs always nice to see an artist working blue, and
Fantastic EgoÆs pop music is a nice partial-escape from the
usual. Sprayed CDr comes in a plastic clamshell with
psychedelic insert, limited to 90 copies.* (Phantom Limb CDr,
$7(US)/$9(outside the empire)
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01-Hiding Smoke [05:17]
02-Busted Turnstile [07:03]
03-I'd Like To Be... [03:49]
04-Toeing The Line [04:44]
05-Tape Loop Symphony #1 [14:19]
06-Down In The Park [06:33]
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41:45 min