- Release Info -------------------------------------------------------------- -
Artist: Malachai
Album: Return to the Ugly Side
Label: Domino
Playtime: 35:06 min
Genre: Indie
URL: http://www.myspace.com/malachaibristol
Rip date: 2011-03-30
Street date: 2011-02-22
Size: 44.04 MB
Type: Normal
Quality: 167 kbps / 4410kHz / Joint Stereo
- Release Notes ------------------------------------------------------------- -
By calling their second album Return to the Ugly Side, Bristol stoner-funk
pranksters Malachai are implying some sort of connection between the new
record and its 2010 predecessor, Ugly Side of Love. But after loading up that
debut with nudge-wink samples of everything from 1979 cult classic The
Warriors to the freakin' Guess Who, the only joke here is that, titular
similarities aside, the two albums could not be more different in approach.
But then Return to the Ugly Side is all you could hope for from a fledgling
act following up a promising debut-- a sophomore effort that sees the duo of
Gary Ealey and Scott Hendy transcending their more obvious influences and
unifying their scatterbrained aesthetic into a more singular sound, one that
presents all sorts of new possibilities.
In contrast to Ugly Side of Love's serrated, patchwork quality, Return to the
Ugly Side is clearly designed to be experienced as a single piece, complete
with an opening instrumental overture that recurs later in the album, and
seamless flows in and out of tracks. And where Ugly Side of Love boasted a
hermetic, homemade feel, Return to the Ugly Side has a wide-screen scope,
with ominous orchestral swells (courtesy of noted BBC composer Ben Salisbury)
and thundering drum breaks that give Malachai a heretofore unheard force and
sinister majesty. Not coincidentally, the band has taken to posting a series
of mixtapes on their Soundcloud page, manically ping-ponging between 1960s
psychedelic pop, dubby 80s post-punk, and bonged-out 90s hip-hop. Beyond
showing off their excellent record collection, the mixes serve to illuminate
the raw materials that have been reshaped and refined on Return to the Ugly
Side.
In effect, Malachai's transformation is not unlike that experienced by their
chief mentor, Geoff Barrow of Portishead, as they've subverted their more
accessible retro-cool reference points for more jarring, disorienting sonic
collisions. As on the mixtapes, Ealey isn't shy about evincing his Beatles
love, but that kaleidoscope-eyed melodic sensibility is forced to do combat
with percussive onslaughts ("(My) Ambulance", "The Don't Just") or, on
"Monster", pulverizing industrialized shocks that would sound right at home
on Portishead's Third.
Even the quietest moments carry a sense of unease, like a gorgeous, ghostly
duet with Katy Wainright on "Rainbows" that's unnerving in its disaffected
calmness, or the smoky jazz-bar haze of "How You Write". But after
impressively raising the stakes for the album's first three quarters, Return
to the Ugly Side unfortunately sputters out in the home stretch, forgoing the
climactic finale suggested by its cinematic framework in favor of an
egregiously punned slackadasical serenade ("No More Rain, No Maureen") and a
ponderous dub-folk exercise ("HyberNation") that brings this brief 35-minute
album to an unsatisfying conclusion. This would indicate Malachai still have
some work to do in separating the inspired from the indulgent. But if they
keep at the evolutionary pace set by Return to the Ugly Side, they'll soon be
blowing many more minds than their own.
- Track List ---------------------------------------------------------------- -
01. Monsters ( 2:09)
02. Anne ( 2:47)
03. Mid Antartica (Wearin' Sandals) ( 2:28)
04. Rainbows (Feat. Katy Wainwright) ( 2:29)
05. In The Hole ( 0:39)
06. (My) Ambulance ( 2:49)
07. Distance ( 2:54)
08. Monster ( 2:22)
09. The Don't Just ( 2:40)
10. How You Write ( 3:14)
11. Let 'em Fall ( 2:55)
12. No More Rain Maureen ( 3:09)
13. Snake Eyes ( 0:49)
14. Hybernation ( 3:42)
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