Hallelujah, folks! The free music site CLLCT is back again. It is probably the best thing happened in music business in last times. The lo-fi scene worldwide, and the 3-4th wave of alt-folk and new weird america will be up on the screen again. However, Christopher Rigsbee (CR) aka Adrian Aardvark has returned as well, one of the most profilic lads in contemporary music. For instance, by avidity to experiment with the sound and expand it into unknown items he is comparable with such sing/songwriters as Russ Woods (Tinyfolk), and James Eric, the co-fellows who have released their music under CLLCT for a long ago.
Grunge Positive is the 15th album of him in the course of the last 5 years. Also, it is the sophomore album in 2009, a follow-up to Sober & Hungry (by the first intentions, the next album should be issued in the October sometime). But that intersection in the form of a year aside, there is all but nothing to see common lines between the last outputs. Regarding Sober & Hungry, it was restrained and gentle acoustic indie folk in its own, a bunch of the songs rather more concentrated on the lyrics level. On the other side, on CR`s previous albums, especially Screaming "No" To Tuna Tundra (2008), there were lots of ongoings and directions which would forecast an apoteose, such as coming of Grunge Positive happened to be.
CR said he had for Grunge Positive two things in mind at all times:
1. Make it sound like Nirvana's Nevermind was being played at the same time with Outkast's Stankonia.
2. Stay as positive as possible lyrically.
CR admitted the situation had tended to change, and the music/lyrics has turned into darker paths. The result is quite weird, if demurely to be said out.
The album is introduced by a rough yet lonely sounding violin which get more darker and strident, and soon will be accompanied with a chapter of spoken word, and in the high register played synth sequences. Beautiful is just a beatific track through its flowing soundscape, voice effects/loops, and the lyrics for to express love hangover. Love is cosmic yet thumbing electro-hop. Toaster is another hip-hop tune, where the verses are contorted down to be hardly understandable ones. Body tries to find the path back to the previous albums. It seems to be the only acoustic showcase on this album. Primitivism represented here will have broken through free spirited improvisation. Holding is partially a kind of a cappella piece already so familiar from the collaborations of Russ Woods and Meghan Lamb. What to say about Ship...mhhh. Yes, some Rigsbee`s friends do show up a bit. One of them is Chantelle Lebeau (if to decide by her name I would suppose she might be the french-Canadian). The other allusion regards the singing mannerism - they raise their voices to orgastiastic level to break down thereafter ever so reminiscent of one worldwide known indie band from Montrèal, from Quebec. Indeed, unexpected but still surprising track. Alaska will be opened up through guitar distortion/noise, digital electronic, and waving vocal effects. It clambers arduously up from the bottom of chaos through the mud toward the star gleam. Obviously the most obscure track because of scattering dark seeds on the chaotic album.
This album will not leave you disappointed. Yet, there had been some albums of Adrian Aardvark I liked more. For instance, the abovementioned Screaming "No" To Tuna Tundra, because of having more minimalist approach, thereby all those jags are much better foreseeable. It is quite usual that creating the mash-up albums by trying to encompass any stuff will often have nothing as the result. Fortunately by huge diversity of the styles, and tendentially to structure it into the songs Grunge Positive has avoided making a run on the rocks.
Besides Christopher Rigsbee and Chantelle Lebeau herein Corey Collins (the frontman of Yo, Adrian!) shared vocals on Body, Justin Passino (For the Kid in the Back) spoke on Boogeyman, and Alaska, Matt Zeppieri was on electric guitar on All Over, Andrew Settevendemio was briefly playing drums in the middle of Holding.
Download it from here
8.4
