Before their enigmatic leader Daniel Patrick Quinn did a sudden volte face and headed off for darkest Indonesia, W&H had been captivated by the sound of Sarf London experimentalists One More Grain. Their two albums, ‘Pigeon English’ and ‘Isle of Grain’ melded disparate elements of everything from early Fall and Pere Ubu to Miles Davis, threw in Quinn’s Alfred Wainwright-style love of the Northern Hills and will surely gain their rightful due around a decade from now.
However, while OMG’s implosion in the face of the London’s draconian ‘pay to play’ regime suggested it was time to mourn, the re-appearance of former OMG personnel as the funky and playful GYRATORY SYSTEM is surely cause to celebrate once again. For while t’System’s oeuvre is another music in a different range of foothills altogether, their cannily-titled debut album ‘The Sound Board Breathes’ presents us with the sound of an equally fascinating sonic ascent getting off the ground.
Please note the usage of the word ‘playful’ there, too, for while the Gyratory System’s sound is primarily electronic and instrumental in design, ‘The Sound Board Breathes’ levers up a whole series of sinewy grooves and makes a mockery of those who automatically think the band’s instrumental line-up (synths, horns, electronic sound tweaking, drums, samples) will lead to a record of weirdy-beardy chin-stroking excess devoid of even the sniff of a decent tune.
Anyone who’s copped an earful of the three Gyratory singles thus far, though, will know this band is keen to engage with heart every bit as much as head. Their debut ‘Baron’s Court Tunnel’ remains playful and full of possibility. An analogue’n’digital mash-up par excellence, it recalls Yello at their best and continues to warrant way wider recognition. Ditto the marvellous ‘Yowser Yowser Yowser’ which revels in Laurie Waller’s death disco drumming and Andrew and Robin Blick’s call-and-response horns, while the fine new single ‘Sea Containers House’ is spurred on by a crazed, circling bassline and the horns’ “nee naw” police siren sounds. All three are happily present here and remain day-glo, electronic-tinged riots of their own.
|
Hang around on the shore long enough, however, and you’ll find The Gyratory System swimming off into darker, less-charted territory where you might need a buoyancy aid. ‘..and Princess Margaret’ marries an ace title with disorientating, glitchy lurches of sound, while the arcane ‘Party Unlimited’ is punctuated by a ponderous bass pulse and Waller’s snare drum shrapnel bursts. Both are largely excellent, if rather discomfiting, while on the title track the Blicks’ horns soar and prick the skin of the gloriously fractured rhythm.
Elsewhere, the band remain touched by the hand of the absent Quinn in the drone-like atmospheres that suffuse the throbbing mystery of tracks like ‘Splurge Gun’ and the looming menace of ‘Tinseltown’, where only Waller’s disciplined playing prevents them from drifting too far out. The fine ‘Thermidor’ is also introduced by a drone-y ambience, but once the snake charming horn motifs and monster Krautrock grooves fall into place, The Gyratory System are basking in a fractured glory that’s entirely of their own making. Their most ambitious outing is held in reserve for the finale and the nine-minute ‘Holloway Road’: initially a dripping tap percussion symphony which enjoys a brief chill-out zone before the band enters from a sonic mist and takes it to another level entirely.
Blending strands of everything from Yello and Pere Ubu to Jah Wobble’s Invaders of The Heart and Aphex Twin, The Gyratory System are relentlessly eclectic, but never less than disciplined. Their ‘Sound Board Breathes’ and gulps down new life and new possibilities. The least we can do is let our lungs enjoy their refreshingly rarefied air.
(http:/www.myspace.com/gyratorysystem)
|
