Friday, October 4, 2013

Lasse Marhaug & Bruce Russell- For Your Pleasure (2013)

For Your Pleasure
This noise album is a tribute album to Roxy Music.  On listen you will probably find that none of it will remind you at all of Roxy Music.  Nonetheless, if you are a fan of noise music, this album could become one of your top albums of the year.  Probably the best way to decide whether this album is for you is to read this review.

If all of the negative points mentioned in that review sound like they were either strengths or things which could be easily misinterpreted by the reviewer, than this album is for you.  I noticed that this review takes the exact opposite approach to this album that I do.  Where reviewer Doug Mosurock finds a lack of method, I look to tracks such as 'For Your Pleasure', where the person playing the bells takes great patience in their playing, allowing the notes to linger in the air over the static filled atmosphere the other member is creating.  Where Mosurock sees absent-minded noodling I do not.  Many of John Cage's works could have been called absent-minded noodling upon a quick listen, but closer examination of such works coupled with Cage's proven performance of them has shown otherwise.  After multiple listens to this album I feel that there is much more composition to it than first meets the eye.  Finally, I disagree with Mosurock's statement that none of this album has any personality.  To me, this album has more personality than many other noise albums I have heard in recent years that have garnered much more critical acclaim (see Songs About Nothing).

Noise music is definitely not for everyone, and if you haven't ventured into the genre, this album is not the best place to start.  Still, if you do enjoy noise music and want something less harsh than the new Sissy Spacek album, this album is probably right for you.

The album can be purchased Here, and I will try to update with a sample shortly.

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