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Jet Propulsion Mystery Summer - 1998 Waiting for the Fireworks
Hunger Stone
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Star Period Star - 1996 Ambivalence
Black
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| Exquisite as an unexpected drop of rain on parched lips... look, there's always really good tapes and CDs and stuff coming our way here, but some stuff just comes from another dimension, it shines - don't ask why or how. Explain this: Star Period Star have made an album that could be the best one that King Crimson never made, yet it sounds totally bafflingly contemporary. Maybe its more than just production values, maybe its the quality of the air peculiar to this decade... this is gloriously in-your-room without being artificially low-fi; fat rich guitars, dirty yet coherent from the buzzing lead guitar to the bounding bass, and they weave in and out with easy complexity. Never mind the cleverness, feel the warmth - this is a musician's exercise, the crafting is a means to an end, and the end is this dangerous, moody anxiety attack of an atmosphere, delightfully dissonant but never random, building up to teeth-grinding tension... there's a few of Voivod's favorite angst-ridden chords in there. Pavement would kill for this sound... bloody hell, people into Firehose would love this, not to mention Deus, Dazzling Killmen - brief moments of Big Black... Ultimately this means nothing if its just another band making another record, but the icing on the cake is the truly into-it, eyes closed performance they've delivered onto this disk, with its light and shade and tempo changes that suck you into the energy of the thing - Arrgh, its brilliant, what a relief. Prog's not dead after all. Put it on again... - Organ Magazine (England) |
The Swivel Neck Justifies the Hand - 1998Swivel Neck
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Cherry Wine by the Marvel Kind b/w 94.3 by Star Period Star - 1997| On clear vinyl. The Marvel Kind put on an incredible live show. Upon sitting down to review this record, I had my serious doubts of "Whether or not their fivesome-fueled flamboyancy would transpire onto vinyl?" The result: "Cherry Wine," not their most adventurous dittie, wavers through you like a good coffee high, as Ben Hughe's croon surrounds the repetitive meanderings of Mr. S.E.T.H.'s unsoothing keyboard; all the while, a serene sense of hazy, atmospheric white noise lines the song like lithmus paper. On the flip,Star.Star, whom have apparently engaged in what sounds like a cathartic headspring, re-sound witha an ultradynamic musical filibuster, "94.3," that leaves you pondering its conception - nothing necessarily avante garde; more a latter day art-rock (ie: late -'80s Sonic Youth, Alger Hiss) or funky math-rock ensemble (ie: Don Cab). - Stop Smiling Magazine |
Drowning b/w Black - 1994Good things do come in small packages and sometimes they're green (vinyl). Chicago's Star Period Star's first single packs a lot of styles in less than 10 minutes. "Drowning" begins with sampled percussion and then breaks in with electric guitar and violin which ends on distorted and dissonant chords. The jazzier sides of the Atlantic Rhythm Section and Curved Air come to mind. "Black" disintegrates from pop to distorted chordal guitar onslaughts, circled by melodic percussion -- sure signs of King Crimson's influence and a love for a good melody. |
Shatner... by Star Period Star
b/w His Ass... by Cheer-Accident - 1995
| The opening riff of Shatner is my tribute to Deep Purple's Love Child followed by some experimentation (releasing 30-50 baloons in the studio). Cheer's side is an intriguing audio collage with manipulations and abrupt edits of their eclectic catalogue. - Sweigert |
Out of Print