Birchville Cat Motel
Curved Surface Destroyer
"At first
we figured this massive triple cd was a collection of long out of print
cassettes and cd-r's, which in a way it sort of is. In fact this three disc set
is a collection of live performances, recorded all over the world, featuring
different live versions of many classic BCM recordings, tracing the development
of Campbell Kneale's Birchville Cat Motel, and the growth of BCM's sound from
swirling found sound ambience to more aggressive free noise exploration (dipping
his toes into the metal that would come to define his project Black Boned
Angel).
The
first disc features two tracks, both near 30 minutes, recorded in 1998 and 2000
in New Zealand. The first is a soft shifting shimmering soundscape of gentle
whirs and distant percussive actions. Quite dreamy and tranquil. The second
features a lot more buzz, a sort of extended raga, tones are stretched out into
thick layers of sound, one atop the other, a hypnotic meditative dronescape of
bombinating strings and glistening high end tones.
The
second disc jumps ahead to 2001 and 2003, for two shows one recorded in a temple
in Japan the other in Denmark. The Japanese show is a half hour of distant
drones, behind ambient recordings of rain and wind, the music building and
building until the drones sound almost like a rainstorm themselves. Very
reminiscent of the sadly now out of print Kougezan Koukiji record, also
performed live in a temple during a rainstorm. The Danish show clocks in at 40
minutes and is another abstract exploration, starting out very spare, with
plenty of random clatter and found sound detritus, but eventually building into
a thick heady drone before eventually breaking down into strange buzzes and
reverbed whirs.
The
third disc features two tracks from quite recently, one from last year, one from
earlier this year. The first recorded in Scotland, is incredibly lush, a soft
buzzing drone grows in intensity until it is a massive wall of vibrating
strings, layers of thick whir and rumbling low end, near the end, in comes a
killer drum and metal guitar riff, that sounds strangely like a loop pulled from
"Number Of The Beast" but could, we suppose be the guys actually rocking out.
Either way, it makes for an amazingly epic jam, this instantly recognizable
metal snippet, repeated over and over beneath an ocean of glistening sonic
shimmer. The final track, recorded in Japan, earlier this year, finds Kneale
returning to his ambient roots, a soft shimmering soundworld, swirls of
vibrating metal, loops of subtle sound smeared into silvery streaks, lots of
metallic reverberation, somehow harnessed into a dark dolorous drift. So goddamn
lovely.
Essential
for ALL Birchville fans. Even if you have some of these tracks on a cd-r or
cassette, these versions are distinctly different so you'll probably want them
anyway. And for BCM newbies, this would make for a darn fine introduction (the
price is right too for a triple cd!). Six breathtakingly gorgeous longform free
drone epics, it doesn't get much better than this."
--Aquarius Records
Three CD live retrospective covering 1998-2006 and including shows in New Zealand, Japan, Denmark and Scotland. Chronologically organized, the album also shows the evolution of Birchville's sound from the mid 90's slowly emerging drone-fields (and use of found sounds) to the more dynamic sound we have come to know from the more recent releases such as Beautiful Speck Triumph and Chi Vampires.
For Campbell Kneale, this release is a 3 hour aural report on the state of things, capturing the full spirit of what he's accomplished over the past 10 years. In doing so, he's assembled the best possible overview of his work under one title, without rehashing any material from previous releases. Thus, what we have here is a 3 disc best-of, featuring all new material!