[kj] MMXII Immersion

[Michael Garcia]

I've been digesting the whole album and extras for a few weeks now so I think I can write my reviews by this weekend

Michael

www.spellboundsf.com
Skype: dragonfly_mg

On Apr 14, 2012, at 10:51 AM, fatpotanga <fatpotanga at gmail.com> wrote:


> It's a real grower & I think the best for years, but for me it only really starts after the first 3 tracks (really can't warm to any of them) that it comes alive.

> Pole shift  - is great until it goes double time & I'd bin the synth intro.

> Fema Camp is great until as you point out we get "Chorus = bellowed song title"

> Rapture I find totally monotonous.

> 

> After these I think it's wonderful.

> I also really like the artwork.

> 

> On 13 Apr 2012, at 14:50, Alexander Smith wrote:

> 

>> 

>> Been a bit sick this week, so perhaps in not the ideal frame of mind in which to immerse myself in the new KJ, but some observations since receiving it the other day....

>> 

>> "Pole Shift" --> Not an ideal album opener

>> 

>> "Fema Camp" ---> Oh dear. Also, I wish we could wrench Jaz out of the "Chorus = bellowed song title" cycle.

>> 

>> "Rapture" ---> This and "In Cythera" are the best bits on the album. No contest.

>> 

>> "Colony Collapse"-- > Reminds me of something very specific, and I can't put my finger on it. Not wild about the sing-songy element to the verses, but Geordie -- as always -- still makes it work.

>> 

>> "Corporate Elect" - Third best track on the album. Band firing on all cylinders. Strangely reminds me of "Medicine Wheel" off DEMOCRACY for some reason.

>> 

>> "In Cythera" - Highlight of the album. As I said before, it's the type of song they've seemingly been trying to nail for a while. Simultaneously elegiac and feral.

>> 

>> "Primobile"  -- Geordie really shines on this one .... Like much of the album, lots of layers to wade through here.

>> 

>> Not wild about "Glitch" and still getting my head around "Trance"

>> 

>> "On All Hallows' Eve" ---> Firstly, why release a song about All Hallow's Eve in April? Secondly, where have I heard that beat before? Iggy's "Nightclubbing"? Some glam stomp?

>> 

>> Coles artwork much more realized up close. Shame about the skull, but am growing fonder of the overall motif. Still light years better than HOSANNAS and KJ2003, let's remember.

>> 

>> Love that Jaz is SINGING again (less throaty bile-spewing)

>> 

>> Why does Heath Ledger get another shout-out in the liner notes?

>> 

>> Overall, I have to say -- it lacks a bit of the urgency of ABSOLUTE DISSENT, and doesn't feature as many moments of sheer, spine-tingling Killing Jokiness (you know what I mean -- the songs that stop you dead in your tracks that CANNOT have been made by any other band). The last track that did that for me was "Raven King" (although "In Cythera" comes very close). They certainly sound like they're revisiting some older ideas here.

>> 

>> I think my biggest complaint is something that also held true for HOSSANAS and that is that there is a claustrophobia that mires certain tracks. Either it's the keyboards, of layered fatness of some of the guitars, but there just isn't any space in some of these songs, and the drums get lost. I mean, listen to, say, "Feast of Blaze" and then spin something off this one and you'll see what I'm trying to get at.

>> 

>> Alex in NYC

>> 

> 

> 

> 

> 

> -- 

> http://www.fatpotanga.com

> http://www.iamscuzzy.com

> 

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