a r t i s t : The Fun Years
t i t l e : Life-Sized Psychoses
d a t e : 2007
l a b e l : Barge (brg 002)
g e n r e : Ambient
r l s. d a t e : Jun/2007
t r a c k s : 05
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 61,4 MB
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Band names come in strange zeitgeists, don't they? We've had
waves of "The Something", "Wolf Something" and "Black
Something" bands, now it seems it is "Year" time. So far we've
noted Capitol Years, The Early Years, Year Future, and The New
Year. Now The Fun Years come drifting into view. It does seem
to be a bit of a misnomer though. Indeed, this group's name as
well as their album and song titles all strike us as being
very incongruous with the sounds they make. We sort of
expecting some doleful pop music or something, but nothing
would have prepared us for the murky muted beauty of Life-
Sized Psychoses. Every track a washed out minimal landscape of
record crackle, bits of hiss and pop, a dense washed out
backdrop for the guitar to sort of drift and shimmer.
The record commences with "Powerball Annie", unobtrusive
feathery shimmers of static that wash across lapping cycles of
three-note sequences plucked out on baritone guitar. Strange
reverby bits of percussion drift in and out. The whole thing
very languorous and dreamlike. The second track weaves a
similar spell, a crackle crusted loop, disembodied and
haunting, repeats over and over, eventually joined by a laid
back guitar line that gives the track's very Philip Jeck like
turntablescape sound a distinctly post rock vibe.
At times the Fun Years almost sound like some avant
turntablist spinning super scratched up old math rock and
slowcore records, all loping rhythms and muted minor key
melodies, but draped in thick swaths of buzz and fuzz and hum
and hiss. Some tracks are mere whispers, others glow and sound
sun dappled, smeary blurry burnished soundscapes, all wreathed
in those analog recording inconsistencies we can never seem to
get enough of. Every track here is a subtle sprawl, and shifts
and shimmers ever so gradually. No quick moves or hard edges.
Just blurry, bleary eyed drift. So very nice!
Definitely for fans of Jeck, Basinski, Tim Hecker,
Machinefabriek, Jasper TX and the like...
<a href="http://www.aquariusrecords.org" target="_blank">http://www.aquariusrecords.org</a>
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01-Powerball Annie [12:07]
02-In Case You Had Any Doubts... [11:44]
03-D 2 [04:15]
04-Softy As Stilts [10:08]
05-Garbage Man, Poet [10:54]
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49:08 min