Exposé Online banner

Exposé Online

Not just outside the box, but denying the existence of boxes.
Covering music from the fringes since 1993.

Reviews

Earthmonkey — Drum Machine
(Beta-lactam Ring mt068, 2004, CD)

Earthmonkey — Audiosapien
(Beta-lactam Ring mt038, 2003, CD)

by Jon Davis, Published 2005-09-01

Drum Machine Cover artAudiosapien Cover art If you take the free-festival space jamming of Ozric Tentacles and add a healthy dose of the psychedelic audio-collage work of Nurse with Wound, you end up in the land of Earthmonkey. There are grooves behind much of the music, but they are often low in the mix, with precedence given to treated keyboards and outer-space echoes. The sound sources are usually manipulated beyond identification into a dreamscape of half-recognized impressions, like walking down a hallway with many doors on either side, some closed, some ajar; and behind each door something is going on. Could be someone playing sax, could be a little boy retelling The Lord of the Rings, could be Tuvan monks singing, could be just rain. Walk up and down the hall as the fancy strikes you, taking in the sounds, but you can’t go into the rooms to get the full impact, you must remain outside, where nothing is quite clear. You’re in no hurry to get anywhere – or you better not be, in a place like this. The “mind-bending” guitar promised in the credits doesn’t show up till track 7 on the full-length Audiosapiens (nice title, eh?). Earthmonkey is a one-man project by a guy called Peat Bog with help from various friends listed in the rambling and poorly spelled thank-yous. The Drum Machine single comes in a nifty hand-made paint-blot cover and includes a number of MP3 files in addition to the three audio tracks. The music has a much more direct and immediate sound than on the full length, still spaced-out but less dream-like, finally giving you the chance to open a door and see what’s on the other side.

Filed under: New releases, Issue 32, 2004 releases, 2003 releases

Related artist(s): Earthmonkey

 

What's new

These are the most recent changes made to artists, releases, and articles.