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U I Blue U2 |
Unifaun Union Line |
Univers Zero Unwound |
Uookasz David Usher |
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Songbird's Cry (2004, 71.35) **½ |
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| The Songbird's Cry - part 1 I Can't Help Myself When You Call Unbroken Thoughts in an Hourglass White City I Waited Dis-moi |
Monologue No One Tomorrow Roses Artificially Made My Dove Mad Keys The Songbird's Cry - part 2 |
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U I Blue are the personal and professional duo of vocalist Laura Lindstrom and multi-instrumentalist Jon Paul (Davis), whose sole album to date, 2004's Songbird's Cry, combines folk, rock and trance influences into a not especially pleasing stew, particularly on its two opening tracks. The album has its moments (generally the folkier ones), not least When You Call and Monologue, but with too many insipid songs of the likes of Tomorrow, they're onto a bit of a loser, I'm afraid. Overall, I think this could've been improved by slicing about half an hour from its length, namely the weaker tracks and removing all the sampled beats and bloops, but that's merely one man's opinion, of course...
Fred Schendel from Glass Hammer is credited with Mellotron, amongst other things, but that means about as much as the 'Mellotron' on his own band's releases. Anyway, we get strings and choirs on When You Call and Roses Artificially Made, flutes, strings and choir on Thoughts In An Hourglass, flutes on Monologue, strings on the grungy No One, Mad Keys and The Songbird's Cry - Part 2 and strings and flute on My Dove, which do their best to improve the frequently substandard material. All in all, I'm afraid to say I really can't recommend this, as all concerned seem to've put a great deal of work into it, but then, isn't that usually the case? I'd stick with Glass Hammer, if I were you.
See: Glass Hammer
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All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000, 49.36/53.19) **½ |
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| Beautiful Day Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out of Elevation Walk on Kite In a Little While Wild Honey Peace on Earth |
When I Look at the World New York Grace [European editions add: The Ground Beneath Her Feet] |
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I discovered U2 in mid-1983, mere moments too late to see them play small(ish) venues, the nearest I've come to so doing being their 1987 Wembley Stadium 'club warm-up' at, er, the 10,000 capacity Wembley Arena. I've had to put up with all manner of insults over the years for owning up to liking their first few albums - yes, even The Joshua Tree - but I stand resolute: to my ears, they invented a new way of playing hoary old rock'n'roll, already in the doldrums even in 1980, utilising their relatively limited talents effectively and coming up with something fresh and new. Unfortunately, after surviving one reinvention (the Eno-produced The Unforgettable Fire and the aforementioned Joshua Tree), Rattle & Hum's faux-rootsy approach stuck in my craw, although the band just carried on getting bigger and bigger, so what do I know?
2000's All That You Can't Leave Behind was seen as something of a return to their roots when it appeared, but listening to it a decade or so on, all I hear is a cheesy, pop/rock version of U2's original sound, with all the guts removed and replaced by squeaky-clean, major-key paeans to, well, nothing in particular, it seems, featuring what have to be some of the most godawful lyrics ever. Aren't you embarrassed to be producing this kind of mainstream guff at your age, chaps? Clearly not, as I'm sure their bank balances will attest. It isn't all bad; opener Beautiful Day (a huge hit, I believe) won me over after a bad start, but overall, this disappointed me almost as much as I'd expected, although not quite enough to give it a really appalling rating.
For some unknown reason, the band opted to use Mellotron string samples on two or three tracks; definitely on Beautiful Day and Kite and possibly on In A Little While, although the strings on several other tracks sound like generic samples. Anyway, you already either love or hate this, I'd imagine, so a couple of moments of underwater fakeotron aren't going to make a jot of difference one way or the other. Incidentally, I've recently been made aware of the always amusing Half Man, Half Biscuit's superb Eno Collaboration: I'm sure it's on YouTube and it's funnier than U2.
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Unifaun (2008, 76.27) ***½ |
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| Birth of a Biggie To the Green Faerie Mr. Marmaduke and the Minister Swingers Party Rehacksis Quest for the Last Virtue A Way Out Finistère |
Welcome to the Farm Maudlin Matter Bon Apart End-or-Fin |
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Vocalist Nad Sylvan (who has also worked with Roine Stolt in Agents of Mercy) and instrumentalist Christian "Bonamici" Thordin 'met' on an online Genesis message board, quickly giving birth to Unifaun (spot the quote)'s spot-on late '70s Genesis tribute/copy/pastiche. 2008's Unifaun ticks all the boxes: Collinsesque vocals? Check. Swirly, phased organ? Check. Rumbling (pseudo-)Taurus pedals? Check. Banks-esque chord sequences? Check, with bells on. Part of me wants to lambast this for its slavishly copyist approach, while another wants to proclaim its 'lost Genesis album' credentials from the rooftops, although the not-so occasional slide into near-plagiarism doesn't help their cause, viz the massive Yes rip (Yours Is No Disgrace) halfway through the lengthy Quest For The Last Virtue, The Carpet Crawlers on A Way Out, The Chamber Of 32 Doors on Finistère...
Despite their claim to use 'vintage, vintage and vintage' gear, the 'Mellotron' fairly clearly isn't; thankfully, they refuse to go over the top, just like, er, Genesis, with bursts of strings and choir here and there, not to mention flutes on Quest For The Last Virtue. Of course, the occasional part strays too close to their source material, notably towards the end of Swingers Party, where the strings describe a close relative to Watcher Of The Skies, while a guitar line from later in the same piece 'reminds' us of part of Robbery, Assault & Battery. Come on, guys... Ultimately, however, the undeniably talented duo are quite open about their intention to make 'the Genesis album Genesis never made', making it near-impossible to slate this for unoriginality, so we might just as well enjoy it for what it is.
See: Agents of Mercy
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Cernido Sonidos (2010, 19.57) **PearlsOn the Run California Dirty Water Goldmine Strangers |
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Who are The Union Line? To be honest, I'm not entirely sure; some form of US indie outfit, essentially, going by their 2010 Cernido Sonidos EP. Actually, I'm having trouble categorising their style and not necessarily in a good way. Indie skiffle? Hard to say. They're really not helped by vocalist Richard Theisen III's overwhelming desire to be Television's Tom Verlaine so badly it must hurt. But he isn't. Although the EP's only twenty minutes long, it still managed to irritate the fuck out of me, Sorry, guys.
Jordan Sabolick is credited with Mellotron, adding flute chords towards the end of On The Run California and alternating melody and chordal parts on Dirty Water, but the latter pretty much gives the sample game away, the notes sounding far too regular to be genuine. Can I recommend this? No, I can not.
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Implosion (2004, 48.48) ***½ |
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| Suintement (Oozing) Falling Rain Dance Partch's X-Ray Rapt d'Abdallah Miroirs (Mirrors) La Mort de Sophocle (Sophocle's Death) Ectoplasme Temps Neufs |
Mellotronic Bacteria Out of Space 4 First Short Dance Second Short Dance Variations on Mellotronic's Theme À Rebours (In Reverse) Méandres (Meanderings) |
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Univers Zero are one of the longest-running uncompromising bands you'll encounter on this site, making it no surprise that their spiritual home, America's Cuneiform label, has become their actual one, too. 1981's Ceux du Dehors features a real Mellotron, but 2004's Implosion can only manage a fake, which barely detracts from the album's impact (and not at all to anyone with even the remotest sense of perspective), its sixteen mostly short tracks hovering on the edge of the region most supposed music fans consider unlistenable. Fuck me, they should hear Schoenberg.
Someone plays some pretty awful Mellotron string samples on - you guessed it - Mellotronic, the low notes stretching horribly, putting the 'ic' into the title of the piece, although it's not reiterated in Variations On Mellotronic's Theme. I can recommend this to anyone interested in angular, awkward music, along with the rest of the band's catalogue, but I wouldn't bother if you're one for 'anything with a nice tune'.
See: Univers Zero
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Leaves Turn Inside You (2001, 76.54) **** |
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| We Invent You Look a Ghost December Treachery Terminus Demons Sing Love Songs Off This Century One Lick Less |
Scarlette October All Over Summer Freeze Radio Gra Below the Salt Who Cares |
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Mellotron used:
Unwound, at least on their seventh album, Leaves Turn Inside You, are like a noisier version of Low, peddling a kind of very post-Velvets melancholy, that sometimes has little in common with 'rock' per se, which isn't to say they can't rock out at times. Is this what happens when a later-issue punk band discovers prog? Dunno, but it's pretty good, although at over 70 minutes (spread over two discs, oddly), it slightly outstays its welcome in places.
There's fake Mellotron on half the tracks, played variously by band member Justin Trosper plus Brandt Sandeno and Steve Fisk (a notorious fakester, pre-2005). Opener We Invent You has a nice string part, with cellos audible at the end, although Scarlette's strings and October All Over's flutes are somewhat sparser, and the ten-minute Below The Salt only has a few seconds of flute at the end of the piece. The album's 'Mellotron' classics, though, are the major string use on Radio Gra and the strings and Mark II 'Tron rhythms on Who Cares, ending with the infamous Bill Fransen 'yeah!' which can also be heard on Lol Coxhill's A Series Of Superbly Played Mellotron Codas (the 'Mark II' use is the album's chief sample giveaway).
So; damn' good album, some excellent fakeotron work. Go for it.
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A Few of Autumn (2006, 23.12) **½SparksImage of You Waterdrops A Few of Autumn Leafs Dance Compound Eye |
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What can I tell you about Uookasz? Next to nothing, frankly; they're a Polish ambient dance outfit, whose 2006 EP, A Few of Autumn, is available as a free download, should you feel so inclined. To be honest, the bulk of the short release irritated the fuck out of me, although the laid-back title track's harmless enough, I suppose. In fairness, they have an occasional way with placement of samples, notably the harp on closer Compound Eye, but that just brings us back to the old 'recycling other peoples' work' argument, which I think we're probably all a little sick of by now.
Someone plays/programmed samplotron strings on the title track and strings and flutes on Leafs Dance [sic], for what it's worth, which isn't an awful lot. So; ambient your bag? Go for it: it's free.
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Little Songs (1998, 33.03) *½ |
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| Trickster St. Lawrence River Jesus Was My Girl Unholy, Dirty and Beautiful Forestfire Babyskin Tattoo F Train Million |
Final Thoughts And The Last Day On Earth Mood Song |
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The Mile End Sessions (2010, 48.20) **½ |
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| Alone in the Universe (acoustic) Everyday Things (acoustic) The Music (acoustic) Prelude Fall to Pieces Je Repars Sparkle and Shine (acoustic) St. Lawrence River (acoustic) |
My Way Out (acoustic) Black Black Heart (acoustic) And So We Run (acoustic) [Bonus tracks: Kill the Lights (Mile End mix) I'm Coming Down (acoustic) Je Repars (radio remix)] |
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British-born Canuck David Usher was apparently frontman with Moist, who might mean something to me were I about half my current age. And Canadian. As it is, I'm neither, so they don't. Usher's solo career kicked off during his tenure with the band and if it all sounds like 1998's Little Songs, we're all doomed. Sorry, but this kind of 'confessional' singer-songwriter stuff sticks in my craw all too often, especially when it tries to get all 'contemporary' on us, with loops, samples and the like. Speaking of samples, the 'Mellotron' here is just that. The jury could be out on the strings on opener Trickster, but they're so obviously sampled on Million that this gets dumped straight onto this page without passing Go or collecting £200.
Usher's seventh release, 2010's The Mile End Sessions (Mile End in Montreal, not London) is considerably less awful than his debut, if wildly unexciting itself. An all-acoustic effort, it combines reworked versions of existing material with new songs, none of which grabbed this particular listener, frankly. Kevin Young's credited 'Mellotron' flutes on My Way Out sound somewhat inauthentic to my ears, so unless I'm told otherwise, into samples this goes.
Little Songs is pretty dreadful, although The Mile End Sessions is merely dull, but I'm still not sure exactly what is supposed to make David Usher stand out from hell's legions of similar bedsitter types.
