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| Alchemy Records |
| ARCD-082 |
Destroy The Nations When In London Sleep At The York Hotel The Byron Bog Dog Face Man Oh Brian Dibb Destroy The Nations Again
I have given the album a good few listens now and I just have to say it blows me away. Absolutely incredible. I listen to a lot of Sonic Youth, Sun Ra, Captain Beefheart, etc. and I must say I've rarely heard music of the Spasm Band's intensity. The instrumentation is fantastic--the 'prattavarius' stands out expecially. I'm a big fan of the crest and valley, ebb and flow approach. My favourite aspect is the wholly organic nature of the tracks--nothing forced--just pure improvised expression.
There is so much love and violence seething in every sound. "The Byron Bog" is the stand-out for me--it goes everywhere (no)music should go. On the whole, I'd say there is far too much art in this album to reduce it to mere rock, but I was far too rocked to just call it art. Primal fury and sonic exploration at its pinnacle. - Steve McCready