Ahleuchatistas — What You Will
(Cuneiform Rune 221, 2006, CD)
by Jon Davis, Published 2006-05-01
Somebody call the men in white suits – these guys are insane. On second thought, don’t call anyone – treatment may decrease their capacity to create such marvelously insane stuff as this. I reviewed two previous Ahleuchatistas releases last issue, and you can refer to that to see how much their brand of ridiculously complex post-punk art-freak lunatic rock appeals to me. Suffice to say this release is more of the same, only better. One thing that strikes me about it is the unusual construction of several of the pieces. In addition to the tightly coordinated style they’ve developed in the past, there’s an element I don’t remember. On the first track, “Remember Rumsfeld at Abu Ghraib”, the guitar plays a slow succession of notes, and at seemingly irregular intervals, the bass and drums interrupt with unrelated complicated rhythmic outbursts of increasing frequency, leading into a section where all three work together. Observation: while most rock music has some detectable relation to the blues, however remote, this has absolutely none, and no elements of European classical, jazz, folk, or anything else, for that matter. It’s like the monstrous offspring of generations of caffeine addicts who suffered from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. They can’t stay with anything very long, even a consistent beat. A few seconds of sixteenth notes are followed by triplets at a different speed; a barrage of atonal stuttering succumbs to a lyrical bit with tinkling cymbals. For me, this is endlessly fascinating music, and I endorse it heartily.Filed under: New releases, Issue 33, 2006 releases
Related artist(s): Ahleuchatistas
Latest news
2019-04-10
The Pineapple Thief to Tour North America –
November and December of 2019 will see The Pineapple Thief bringing their music to Canada, Mexico, and the US, and famed drummer Gavin Harrison will be on board. The band has been touring extensively in Europe, but North America will be new territory for them. »
Read more
2019-03-25
Scott Walker RIP –
Noel Scott Engel, better known as Scott Walker, was one of the most intriguing and enigmatic musical figures in the second half of the 20th Century. His strange career started with The Walker Brothers, an American pop group that featured no one named Walker and no brothers. After moving to England in 1965, they had a series of hit singles. Scott's solo work started with Scott in 1967. Starting in the 80s, his work took an increasingly avant-garde turn. »
Read more
2019-03-20
Freedom to Spend Unearths June Chikuma's Archives –
Jun (June) Chikuma is well known for her video game and anime soundtracks, but she also released an album of experimental electronic music back in 1986 called Divertimento where she indulged the kind of spontaneity that wouldn't work in a soundtrack. RVNG Int'l label Freedom to Spend is bringing this overlooked item to broader attention with a deluxe reissue. »
Read more
2019-03-03
Seaprog 2019 Lineup Almost Complete –
The Seaprog festival in Seattle is scheduled for June 7-9 this year, and they've announced their lineup of performers. The revitalized Trettioåriga Kriget will cap Friday night, perennial favorites Marbin are on Saturday, and District 97 will finish off the fest on Sunday night. In support, they've booked a stellar variety of artists from the Northwest and around the world, including EchoTest, Markus Reuter and Trey Gunn, and the live debut of the amazing Troot project. »
Read more
2019-02-21
You Can Be Part of an Ambient Electronic Project –
The Gesture of History is a new electronic project put together by Sam Rosenthal of Black Tape for a Blue Girl, Steve Roach, and violist Sam Shadow. The music started as an instrumental track Rosenthal was working on for a Black Tape album, but took on a life of its own and demanded further enhancements. The majority of the funds raised will go to manufacturing costs for LP and CD editions, as well as other items as detailed on the Kickstarter page. »
Read more
Previously in Exposé...
Neil Haverstick - If the Earth Was a Woman – Haverstick is a pioneering guitarist, known for his work in microtonal scales. The two previous releases we have reviewed in these pages — Acoustic Stick and Other Worlds — were each the... (2004) » Read more
Listen & discover
Print issues
- Issue #1 (1993-10-01)
- Issue #2 (1994-02-01)
- Issue #3 (1994-05-01)
- Issue #4 (1994-08-01)
- Issue #5 (1994-10-01)
- Issue #6 (1995-03-01)
- Issue #7 (1995-07-01)
- Issue #8 (1995-11-01)
- Issue #9 (1996-03-01)
- Issue #10 (1996-08-01)
- Issue #11 (1997-02-01)
- Issue #12 (1997-05-01)
- Issue #13 (1997-10-01)
- Issue #14 (1998-02-01)
- Issue #15 (1998-07-01)
- Issue #16 (1999-01-01)
- Issue #17 (1999-04-01)
- Issue #18 (1999-11-01)
- Issue #19 (2000-05-01)
- Issue #20 (2000-10-01)
- Issue #21 (2001-03-01)
- Issue #22 (2001-07-01)
- Issue #23 (2001-12-01)
- Issue #24 (2002-04-01)
- Issue #25 (2002-09-01)
- Issue #26 (2003-02-01)
- Issue #27 (2003-08-01)
- Issue #28 (2003-12-01)
- Issue #29 (2004-04-01)
- Issue #30 (2004-09-01)
- Issue #31 (2005-03-01)
- Issue #32 (2005-09-01)
- Issue #33 (2006-05-01)
- Issue #34 (2007-03-01)
- Issue #35 (2008-01-01)
- Issue #36 (2008-10-01)
- Issue #37 (2009-07-01)
- Issue #38 (2010-07-01)
- Issue #39 (2011-06-01)
- Issue #40 (2013-04-01)
This work
is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Total page views: 22069849