a r t i s t : Animal Hospital
t i t l e : Memory
d a t e : 2009
l a b e l : Barge
c a t : BRG007
s o u r c e : CDDA
g e n r e : Epic Post-Classical Drone / Ambient Post-Post Rock!
r l s. d a t e : Mar/2009
t r a c k s : 07
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 72,6 MB
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Gonna take a lot to beat this as my album of the year 2009 -
and we are only in March! this album seriously blew me away, sit
back, smoke a bowl and prepare for waves of epic sound!
Go out now and buy this album, I seriously hope they release this
on vinyl as well, and i'll buy it again!
Review _____________________________________________________________
I think that the very best new music being produced is often
the kind that is near impossible to define. You know, the kind
of music that avoids easy categorization and somehow overturns
all preconceived notions about what an album should be. Animal
Hospital's Memory is shining example of that kind of album.
However, I think I would do it a disservice to stop there - to
simply say, 'This is some of the best new music I've heard and
you'll only understand once you've listened to it.' While that
statement would be true, it's just more fun to risk
embarrassment by trying to define something that is this good.
I think the first and safest way to approach Memory is in
terms of Barge. What I mean here, is in terms of the label
which has presented this fine recording. The first thing that
you should know is that Barge Records does not put simply
'good music.' In fact, the label seems to avoid even 'great
music.' Nope, with only a couple releases seeping out a year,
Barge only has time to spend their energy on the very best new
music being produced in the realms of forward thinking
experimental music. This couldn't be more evident than in last
year's glorious sophomore release from The Fun Years, Baby,
It's Cold Inside. With Memory, Barge has just upped the ante.
Animal Hospital is one Kevin Micka and Memory is pretty much
the coolest experimental record I've heard, probably since
that Fun Years record. Micka is a multi-instrumentalist of the
highest quality and in the years proceeding Memory has honed
his skills in a live setting by playing and looping his
instruments into effervescent concoctions that sound like the
work produced by a four piece band (and a talented one at
that). Memory continues this aesthetic, using a looping pedal
at a much more sophisticated level than I've heard in the
past. However, even with his obvious relationship with loops,
Memory provides so much more. The album's seven tracks range
from 2 minutes to 17 minutes in length and in the course of
the album's stretch, make some unexpected turns that extend
the realm Animal Hospital's sound into mythic territory. The
opener starts things of peaceful, contemplative and clear with
a tinkering music box and crystal guitar lines. This is
followed by the epic stroke of 'His Belly Burst,' a gorgeous
and lengthy track built up Cello work contributed by Jonah
Sacks. The work morphs and bleeds into "2nd Anniversary," a
transitional track filled with swelling drones that are
punctuated by resonant staccato guitar plucks that pierce the
atmosphere of the song. All this builds up slowly to the
centerpiece of the album, '...and ever.' I almost feel like I
should put up a spoiler alert here because it might be better
if you were blindsided by this track without being previously
tipped off. Consider yourself warned: after laying an elegant
foundation, Micka sends Memory in to astral territory. '...and
ever' is announced by a thick base line that is quickly
layered with a series of guitars and then punctuated by a
griffin slaying guitar line that wouldn't feel out of place on
a Boris record. As the structure heaves, Micka briefly adds
vocals into the mix and then continues to send the structure
heavenward. The track continues to build until the building
fades into the sky and the clouds become the building and the
building becomes the clouds. It is kind of what you would
expect to accompany an onslaught led by Zeus or something. As
the dust of construction clears, a heart beat emerges along
with a clutter of loops and again, that throbbing bass. I
don't know exactly how this here Animal Hospital works, but
the entrance of Micka's wordless vocals and comforting guitar
line on 'a safe place' makes me feel like the previous
destruction/construction was simply the cleansing agent
necessary for some poor animals full recovery. Once
'Nostalgia' sets in, everything feels perfect and resolved,
but this brief beachside sojourn is simply a daydream setting
up the final sixteen plus minutes of the title track. I won't
completely destroy the sequencing by revealing the ending,
suffice it to say û it is good, really really good. So yeah,
there's not a specific defining thread that I can tie the
whole thing together with, but Memory is all the better for
it. I don't imagine that there is any other way to move from
Scott Tuma to Godspeed! to Mogwai to Boris to Tortoise to The
Fun Years and still make a cohesive and wholly individual
record. After you hear Memory, it will all make sense. I guess
I can only say this: Thank you Animal Hospital and thank you
Barge!
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01-Good Times [02:25]
02-His Belly Burst [17:31]
03-2nd Anniversary [04:28]
04-...and Ever [12:33]
05-A Safe Place [04:43]
06-Nostalgia [01:42]
07-Memory [16:50]
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60:12 min