| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Recording: |
|
Painted Sky |
|
| |
Artist: |
|
Yellow6 |
|
| |
Label: |
|
Resonant |
|
| |
Release Date: |
|
5.February.2007 in the UK, 13.March.2007 in the
US |
|
| |
Reviewed by: |
|
Brett
Spaceman and PostLibyan |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Rating: |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Review
|
|
| |
Brendan's Intro: |
|
This review has had an interesting history.
It started off as a discussion between two Minions. I posted
that here, and then a week later had word from Yellow6 himself,
Mr. Jon Attwood, in which he replied to some of their points.
So now this review is a dialog between two music geeks and
one musician. I wonder who will be added to this discussion
next? |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Jon Attwood: |
|
Hi. Just been reading your joint review of Painted Sky on
EvilSponge. Thanks very much for posting
it. I thought I'd send you a few comments
back, partly in response to your comments, partly not, but mostly
for no reason other than I feel the urge! |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Brett Spaceman: |
|
Since I had previously only covered a retrospective compilation, I had an impression of Yellow6 as music to relax and reflect with -- meditate even. This clearly isn’t so on Painted Sky. Luckily we have a ‘house’ Yellow6 expert in the form of PostLibyan. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
PostLibyan: |
|
Well, i don't know if i would call myself an "expert",
but i have been a fan of Y6 for several years now and own dozens
of his releases… |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Brett Spaceman: |
|
The first thing that strikes me is the artwork, which is beautiful. I love the fact that it is called Painted Sky and we have on the cover this epic blue vista. Imagine having the vinyl! |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
PostLibyan: |
|
Was this even released on vinyl? |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Jon Attwood: |
|
I wish! Vinyl is prohibitively expensive, but maybe
for the re-issue when I'm famous...
And the sleeve art is always a part of the package to me and
(I think) fits the music, mainly as it's all part of me. I like
a nice desert. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Brett Spaceman: |
|
The first couple of tracks here are dripping in tension.
Every pluck of a guitar string is wrought for all its worth.
There is something 'Guthrie meets
Reily' on these:
a bit Spanish in places, a bit 'Festival of Drifting' in others. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Jon Attwood: |
|
Spanish in places? Yes, probably. (Years ago I played on a
John Peel Session with Portal and
added some acoustic guitar intro. That became known as "the
Spanish guitar incident".)
I think the Spanish influence came from the sole source of Guantanamera
by The Sandpipers -- an album i picked up in a junk store when
i was about 10. It has amazing versions of Louie Louie and Strangers
in the Night on it!
Guthrie meets Reilly
-- as I've mentioned at times before, I'm
not a huge Cocteaus fan
(aside from the later stuff, when trendy people went off them)
and have never found any Reilly/Durutti Column stuff that's
really done much for me. Definitely Festival of Drifting though!
I was there for the second (and sadly last) and would count
Labradford as an influence, though I don't
think I reach their standard.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Brett Spaceman: |
|
What do you think? The strange thing is so-called 'ambient'
music is supposed to be soothing, background music. This actually
makes me feel quite uncomfortable, impatient even. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Jon Attwood: |
|
Good to hear it makes you feel uncomfortable rather than relaxed.
Maybe now you'll understand why I dislike the "ambient" tag,
as I have never seen my music as being relaxing/background music. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
PostLibyan: |
|
It doesn't make me uncomfortable. I think what Yellow6
is doing here is making us wait. He's going somewhere, obviously,
and journeys often take a long time. I am always struck by
how travelling a great distance to get someplace seems to take
forever, but once i turn around and am heading home i am there
before i notice. These tunes are the long, outbound journey,
and they seem long to you because you want him to hurry up
and get there. I am content to watch the scenery… Heck, i'm
not driving, so he can choose his own pace. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Jon Attwood: |
|
A journey, not a destination! Sometimes that's the important
thing, and it is for me. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Brett Spaceman: |
|
He must be supremely confident to resist the urge to go
loud. Forget quiet loud, this is quiet…. period. And maddeningly
tense as a result. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Jon Attwood: |
|
I love loud in it's place, but to use loud as a contrast to
quiet is easy, and somewhat clichéd these days. I won't
say I haven't used it, but most haven't heard it. I prefer changes
in mood and texture (but don't let that give you the impression
I am fully in control -- things happen, and if I like them, others
get to hear them). |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
PostLibyan: |
|
Well, there really isn't a lot going on in the first 2 tracks,
which are made of mellow, shapeless sounds. They are building,
but at a glacial pace. Does anyone have some hairspray? We
need an ozone hole to speed the glaciers up! |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Brett Spaceman: |
|
Common – hmm? This reminds me of something else, really old, like the soundtrack to The Vikings something like that. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Jon Attwood: |
|
The Vikings? Don't know it but IMDB tells me it's old. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
PostLibyan: |
|
I like the layering here: a thudding drum beat that sounds
like it got lost on the way to a Massive Attack album, layered
under one guitar droning lightly and one dropping long deep
notes. This song has a bit of depth to it. And there is a bit
of the desert that is shown on the cover in the chiming acoustic
on the choruses. Nicely done. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Jon Attwood: |
|
I have a bucket of cast-off Massive Attack beats that I occasionally
dip into. A few Portishead and Moe Tucker remnants I got in a
sale too. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Brett Spaceman: |
|
Ah Realisation is back to familiar Yellow6 Territory: a portent drone as backdrop to a languid, beautiful guitar. Pleasure/Pain is better still. I think this is my favourite track so far. Do you realize we’re past half way and only Common has had any beats?
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
PostLibyan: |
|
Rhythm does not always require something that sounds like
a drum beat. The songs progress nicely, even if they have abandoned
any pretense of ever being ready for a dance floor. (You Europeans
and your obsession with dancing!) |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Jon Attwood: |
|
A lack of beats may be the only contrivance of the album? (The
more beat oriented stuff got left off). |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Brett Spaceman: |
|
Eighteen Days - Now, PostLibyan, if I were to say to you that sometimes Yellow6 reminds me of old-school ambient masters like Budd and Eno, would that make sense to you? I mean, accepting that Yellow6 is guitar based and Budd is piano. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
PostLibyan: |
|
Totally. He uses a different medium than the "masters",
but he is up to same thing. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Jon Attwood: |
|
I'm not very familiar with Budd and
Eno's work, though my experiences
with Eno's work have not been good overall (find what I've heard
tediously dull, or intensely annoying). |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Brett Spaceman: |
|
Some more beats in Eighteen Days, by
the way. Hey, don't laugh but the scale here reminds me a little
of Bela Lugosi's Dead. Listen, can you
hear it too? The minimal version. Altogether now "Undead undead
undead..." |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
PostLibyan: |
|
Wow, you're right – there is something in the rhythm that
is similar. Maybe that drum loop is a sample from Bauhaus? |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Jon Attwood: |
|
I saw Bauhaus last year and realised
how much of an influence they have been on me, particularly on
my guitar style. I saw them first time around (1983?) and used
to play bits of their songs in rehearsals with my band, including
Bela Lugosi's Dead -- not a conscious rip-off, not a sample,
but definitely an influence. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Brett Spaceman: |
|
Is Eighteen Days the title or the length, by the way? Ouch! Hey, he hit me! Did you see that? He actually hit me. Hang on, we slipped into Requiem for Julian and I didn’t notice the segue. I’m rapidly talking myself out of a job at EvilSponge aren’t I? |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Brendan: |
|
Not out of a job per se, but your Raise might be a little lower
than you would like... |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
PostLibyan: |
|
I actually thought that Eighteen Days is a reference to the old Modern English / This Mortal Coil tune Sixteen Days. There is something in the tone that is similar. This is two days later, and the frenetic pace of Day 16 has been replaced by exhaustion at Day 18… Or maybe I have been listening to too much This Mortal Coil lately... |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Jon Attwood: |
|
Eighteen Days is simply titled as it was
written/recorded 18 days before I left my stay in Sweden to come
home. I have only passing familiarity with Modern English/TMC
and don't know their song.
Oh yeah -- the album version is an edit! If you want the other
17 days 23 hours and 51 minutes, let me know... |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
PostLibyan: |
|
Moving on, I think that Maré has a really nice
beat, and he is playing some louder guitar here. Azure,
which follows, features him playing a tremoloed western style
guitar over some languid thudding beats. I think of this kind
of stuff as "desert music", and it reminds me of the cover of
the CD, which is a desertscape. Good tune. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Brett Spaceman: |
|
Seriously though, I think this record is as traumatic as
it is therapeutic. Maybe more so? What do you think was Yellow6's
intention behind this album? Continued refinement? Aiming at
newer fans? |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Jon Attwood: |
|
My intentions? I guess continued refinement. Aiming at newer
fans? Not sure I really have many old one! |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
PostLibyan: |
|
Personally I get the impression that Yellow6 makes music
for Yellow6. He does what he enjoys, and puts it out there
because he knows that others will enjoy it too; well, at least
some of them. So "new fans" – no, I don't think he
aims for that, ever. The intention? I get the impression that
he, like a lot of artists, makes art because that's what they
do. Something in their brain drives them to play within their
chosen medium….
In that respect, I guess that what Yellow6 does is, technically
speaking, Jazz. Now the Beat Poet on the last record begins to
make sense… And suddenly I have a desire to hear Ken
Vandermark play some trumpet over some Y6 drones… That could be great! |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Jon Attwood: |
|
If music made for yourself is Jazz, then guilty as charged.
I'm one of those people who thinks that once you start making
music for other people, you become contrived and lose the purity
of the art (pretentious maybe). If I wanted to make music for
others, I'd make music that was going give me some chance of
being very rich, or at least give up the day job. I'm not a comfortable
performer but have this drive to make music, as you say, I do
it because I have to, regardless of the listener.
I'm lucky that a few others appreciate what I do. It would
be great if it was thousands rather than hundreds, but I'm
grateful it's hundreds. For even one person to want to play
my album some time after the initial purchase is great -- it
still amazes me to think someone somewhere may actually choose
this album to play from their collection maybe next year and
enjoy it.
And a spot of trumpet would be so good... |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Brett Spaceman: |
|
As a long-standing fan of Yellow6 how do you rate it? |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
PostLibyan: |
|
I would give this a 5. It is better than his last disc, even better than Disappear Here, but not his best work ever. I am still interested in the journeys that Yellow6 takes, wherever they may go. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Brendan's Conclusion: |
|
Well, there you have it. I have tried
to insert Mr. Attwood's comments where they would have happened
had he been part of the initial dialog. I hope that it makes
some sense.
And this concludes our review that became some sort of strange
review / interview hybrid. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Related Links:
|
|
Label Site:http://www.resonantlabel.com/
Artist: http://www.yellow6.com/
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/jonyellow6
Also on EvilSponge:
Appearance
as remixer: Remixes
EP: Decay:Repeat
Album: Lake:Desert
Remix collection: Source:
Remix
Split album: Split
Compilation appearance: Mass
Transfer Installation:05
Tryptych appearance: New
Found Land
Album: Disappear Here
Compilation appearance: Flow
Compilation: The Beautiful
Season Has Past
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
