Birchville Cat Motel
Beautiful Speck Triump 2CD

[Click here for audio sample]

"Another release from the oh-so-prolific Campbell Kneale aka Birchville Cat Motel. And as much as we scoff occasionally at musicians who seem to release a record a week, Campbell's output has managed to remain relatively dud-free, even being one of the most prolific. The difference this time is it's a real cd, not a cd-r, and not just a cd, but a double cd! Exactly the way this sort of stuff was meant to be heard, stretched out forever with plenty of time to develop and expand, burn brightly and fade away. Two discs, six tracks, all but one twenty minutes plus. Drone nirvana my friends. A low rumbling drone that over the course of 30 minutes swells to a keening resonant whine with clicking and chirping (think crickets, pebbles, geiger counters) splattered throughout. Shakers, chimes, rattles, and bells manage to be clattery and distinct, but at the same time become a meditative and sonorous whole. Warm chords stretch langorously into the ether, while instrument crackle and amp buzz provide rhythmic support before spreading into a gauzy, indistinct raga. Chords and notes are smeared into a noir-ish cinematic blur-scape. A warm fuzzy expanse of late night swoosh, bookended by creaking springs and ambient clatter. A forty minute coda of clatter and croon and creak and crunch and click and calm. So goddamn good. Employing an unlikely arsenal of electric, acoustic and fake guitars, synth, cheap organ, recorder, clarinet, contact mics, wired turntables, violin, bells, baby rattles, firecrackers, piano, cymbals, melodica, steel pot lid, drums, space phone, tape loops and floorboards, Kneale may have sealed BCM's fate with an all but unbeatably perfect two plus hours of divine Ur-drone."
--Aquarius Records

"This album is a monster. "Beautiful Speck Triumph" sprawls over two CDs and contains over two hours of music. Its scope is gargantuan, but making the effort to listen to it all is both worthwhile and rewarding. Birchville Cat Motel is the main project of New Zealand wunderkind, Campbell Kneale. I've often wondered how a place that seems as infinitely sunny as New Zealand can consistently produce some of the most impressive droning experimental music on the planet. It will invoke amazing imagery, but little of it seems to reflect my preconceived notions of the country’s sweeping green hills and piercing rays of sun. Not that I care, because what it does reflect is as good, if not better.
To listen to Birchville Cat Motel, one must really free their mind. It is more than just an aural experience; Kneale knows how to massage all your senses. Being immersed in his soundscapes is like being transported to another world. "White Ground Elder," the 30-minute opening track, slowly submerges you into an endless pit of icy cold water. As you are lowered at molasses speed, your brain starts playing tricks on you. At first, it seems okay - you don't feel as though you are in danger. Your senses are quite awake and you're only now, about 8 minutes in, starting to realize what's taking place. 11 minutes in and your ears start ringing. It's starting to hit you. You have no way out, but impending death is the only thing that awaits at greater depths. Exotic sea life is swarming around you now, trying to figure out if you are predator or prey; they've never seen anything like you this far down. Then, at about 19 minutes, you start hallucinating. Everything gets white and an eerie calm comes over you. Most disconcerting, though, is how you feel your veins freezing. Each blip in the track is like one more blood cell laying down its arms and giving up the fight. But then, just as your ultimate peril seems definite, you're jolted upward and cast into the warm, oceanic air. Cicadas sing and there's not a cloud in sight. For hours, you just lie in the soft grass staring at a luminous full moon breathing in the smell of saltwater in the air. After such an experience, the air has never smelled sweeter and you have never felt so alive.
I would have been happy if "Beautiful Speck Triumph" was just one track - I would have felt fulfilled and thought my money well spent. Campbell Kneale, though, is out to make a true masterpiece. In the world of free form, experimental music there are few kings. This is an impossible genre to master and is always evolving. I always look at the true innovators as those who everyone else tries to copy, and Kneale is firmly entrenched as one of those leaders. "Speck Fears" is beautiful in the way that watching two lost lovers embrace after a lifetime apart is beautiful. It follows the natural order of things, but no matter how often you expect it, it still takes your breath away. It begins with the digital sound of crackling fire, and the organ that is the basis of the piece fades in immediately. From beginning to end, it's ethereal. There's something spiritual going on here, and not in that church-y kind of way, but in the true sense of the word. Laced with moaning strings, this track feels like it does little while at the same time, it seems to be constantly evolving. If you've ever watched the sunrise, and I mean really watched the sunrise, you know how entrancing the first rays of the new dawn are. It's something that happens every day, but when you really pay attention, it just draws you in. I am amazed that something we take for granted so often is so infinitely beautiful. Kneale subtly brings in a piano, which makes the moment unbearable. I can't remember the last time music brought me this close to tears. His ability to craft these delicate, droning messes is unmatched. Near the 13-minute mark, I hear what sounds like whale song. I know it's being done on a violin or cello, but the effect is perfect. I am floating and the world is just circling around me. This is stunning. Absolutely stunning.
hope Campbell Kneale never stops making music. I hope it keeps pouring out of him like a faucet. I haven't heard an album like "Beautiful Speck Triumph" in a long time, and its impact will be felt for months. This is a masterpiece in every sense of the word. Kneale has such a deep understanding of how music affects the soul and how it enriches those who truly embrace it. He is not just a musician, he is an artist. His music leaves its mark not just on your sense of hearing, but also on senses of sight and smell. Like a great composer, he puts each piece in its perfect place as to leave the longest impression. This is an amazing piece of work that has raised the bar for free form music. While sometimes beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, sometimes it's impossible to argue. "Beautiful Speck Triumph" leaves little room for debate."
--Brad Rose, Foxy Digitalis

Having just heard the masters, I can say with all certainty this is the best (if not definitive) entry in the long series of BCM releases. Clocking in at over two hours, Campbell accomplishes something not at all unlike the beautiful noise being made by the likes of Sunroof! The release of a Neil Campbell/Campbell Kneale CD only seems to cement this connection. Like "Bliss" and "Delicate Autobahn Under Construction" we have a true double length album (not just a bunch of stuff collected on two CDs. What 'Speck' isn't though is a duplication of something else you've heard before. It is neither a replication of my beloved Sunroof! nor is it just another BCM. Rather, the things I love best about both are here, along with plenty of new ideas. I'm sure I'll get skewered for saying this, but I think 'Speck' is one of the single most important releases from the NZ underground, completely on par with the likes of early Corpus Hermeticum (IE 'Last Glass', etc.), Dead C's Harsh 70's Reality, etc.