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Looper's Delight
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Hey, A while ago one of the list members sent out some CDs to the first 5 people who responded to his email. The catch was we had to review the CD. So here is my review. Cooperation Transatlantic Collaboration by David Cooper (Orton UK) James Sidlo (US) My very first impression upon putting this CD in my player was that the sound was nice and lush. Reminiscent of Brian Eno's Apollo Soundscapes album. The first 7 songs are down tempo, ambient, languid and beautiful. I have one complaint though. They seem way too short. To me, it seems like a really good musical idea starts to develop and then it's over. I'd like to see that 7 songs turn into 3 longer pieces that somehow develop more. Set that feedback to 50% and keep it going! These guys obviously have a lot of musical ideas, and are great players, I just don't think they should be afraid to stretch out a bit, especially with the genera of ambient. Maybe it's because this album was done by mailing tapes across the Atlantic and the musicians were not together during the recording of this disc. I didn't realize this until mid way through the album, but upon reading this I thought, "Oh of course." I think it kind of shows. There's a certain chemistry and magic that happens when two or more people start playing in the same room together. That development of an idea, by two people improvising at the same time, is what is missing from this disc. Starting with the eighth song, "There And Back And There Again" They start doing pieces that include electronic percussion and sequencers. I thought the percussion sounded a bit stiff and out of place for this song and the next tune "East Of Ealing." They sound a bit sterile and harsh compared to the other instrumentation. Maybe a trip through a nice tube pre amp and a little good reverb would help the tonality so the drum machine blends in with the lush and warm guitar sounds. These two pieces seem to be mostly sequencer. It's just my personal taste, but I like a lot more of a blend of computer based and acoustic based instruments in music. They totally reach success in track 10 "Between Breaks" Nice drum and bass loops going under really nice inspired guitar/bass loops. One of my favorite tracks on the album. Tracks 11 and 12 "Re: Cooperation Parts One and Two" are taking loops from previous pieces and adding new instruments and purcussion/drummachine on them. If I were producing this album, I would have had these tracks blend with their earlier incarnations for more sonic verity in one piece. Again, that's they way *I* like it. Track 13 "Texas Trees" begins another really sweet track. A nice chimey down tempo composition that blends acoustic and electric guitars.... but WHERE DID IT GO? At a minute and a half, just when I'm getting into it, it quickly fades out and the next song begins. Musicus inturruptus. Same holds true for track 14 "Never Enough Part One". There wasn't enough of this song. Seemed like an intro to the next song. Again, a *really* good intro, but I wouldn't call it a fully realized musical idea of it's own. Some nice upbeat drums begin track 15 "Never Enough Part Two", but they sound a bit dry and out of place next to the lush reverb drenched guitars that flow on top of it. Again, this song ends as soon as it gets going. Why? GIVE ME MORE! IT'S NEVER ENOUGH! So, while it seems like I may be trashing this disc, I don't mean to be. However, the idea "leave them wanting more" is just frustrating to me. This disc is full of great loops, lush instrumentation (although a bit dry and stiff sounding percussion in places) cool musical ideas and great performances. The best analogy I can think of for this album is it's like having the phone ring right before you're about to orgasm. It's your mother and she's yelling at you because you don't do enough. Mood breaker. You get going again, then she calls again telling you that she forgot to tell you a relative died. Anyway, you get the picture. While some may say these pieces are short and sweet, I say they are never enough. Mark Sottilaro