Land of Kush – Against The Day
March 24, 2009
Against The Day references the recent Thomas Pynchon novel of the same name. I’ve not read the book, and I doubt I will. Not because this isn’t a good album, but because I’m a deeply lazy man.
However, Sam Shalabi, the Canadian behind the Land of Kush project is less so. Having assembled 30 musicians, he has set about creating a 60 minute piece of music, broken into five acts (apparently, this represents the chapters of the book – if it also takes an hour to read it, there’s the vague possibility I will). With its chaotic, clashing artwork, it is possible to judge Against The Day by its cover.
This is a genre-melding experience that finds traditional Eastern instruments tousling with African rhythms which are beset by Western surf guitars twanging harmonic Phrygian licks. The instrumental opening of ‘The Light Over The Ranges’ will send most listeners scuttling for cover like a gorged bedbug that’s seen daylight. If you can make it through those seven minutes, then the driving and corrosive 14 minutes of ‘Iceland Spar’ awaits. With a solo, male vocal matching a violin melody, it’s not long before the violin breaks free into scratchy, improvised chaos. As other instruments hold down a traditional drone, it becomes enthralling stuff, with any lyrical content rendered subservient to the far more dominant musical harmonies. If that sounds like your cup o’ traditional tea, then just you wait for the multiple sax solos. They’ll blow your mind, brother.
‘Bilocations’ makes up a third of the album lasting a sprawling 20 minutes. Mostly due to the stellar vocal of Molly Sweeney, the track dips and slides in and out of a Bond-like psychedelia – rather like I imagine Daniel Craig felt after having his Martini spiked at Le Chiffre’s den in Casino Royale. You know, the bit when he rushes out to the car to jump-start his heart. You could play this song over that entire sequence and it’d work.
Final tracks ‘Against The Day’ and ‘Rue du Départ‘ both clock in at eight minutes, so I suggest preparing yourself for this album. Don’t expect to just wham it on when you’ve tottered back from your nightly four pints down the local. The racing pace of ‘Against The Day’ juxtaposed with the raging ambience of ‘Rue du Départ‘ will do nothing for your headspin, though it may perfectly soundtrack a night out if you’ve been chased by the law and maybe lost a finger in the process.
I recommend this album for its sheer artistry and epic vision. OK, it’s arty, dramatic; and some may baulk perceiving that as pretentious. But above that stands a piece of work driven by as much impulse and imagination as I’ve heard this year.
Related posts:
- Rachael McShane – No Man’s Fool
- Wildbirds and Peacedrums – The Snake
- William Orbit – my oracle lives uptown
- Speech Debelle – Speech Therapy
- The Red Fox Chasers – Anthology
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