EchoTest
Le Fil Rouge
Reviewed by: Geno Thackara
It’s funny what we can take for granted in the digital age. Musicians can almost instantly reach ears around the world in places they’ve never been. Listeners will directly chip in for music that hasn’t been made yet. You can almost forget about an album you might have helped fund months ago, then wake up one morning to find it’s suddenly ready to enjoy over breakfast. If you’re lucky, the artist might also be sending you cookies.
Which leads to this week’s surprise. Philly’s own Julie Slick and Italian composer Marco Machera made a highlight of my 2014 with their debut Fourth Dementia, a delightful instrumental disc somewhere between complex jam rock, arty improv and space jazz. Apparently they were just having too much fun to quit. The duo’s now become an ongoing project with an official band name, which reflects both their love of recording effects and their drive to keep trying things. Naturally for such restless minds, the followup is recognizably familiar and also throws a couple curve balls.
The tricky loops are still there, ranging from almost ambient to almost industrial. Expert drums groove side by side with occasional techno-style beats. A couple spots even feature singing this time. Machera adds a wordless chorus of “aah”s on the lush summery opener and makes “Die in Dust” into a meditative head-trip. A few minutes later Mike Visser (Slick’s bandmate in Springs) steps in for “The Drift,” a straightforwardly catchy dark-indie tune that almost begs to be used in an action movie over one of those nighttime big-city montages full of neon lights.
Otherwise there’s enough going on that singing would be superfluous anyway (especially in “Streets” or the crazed “A Pleasant Torture,” either of which would make a great soundtrack for trying not to die at 90mph on the freeway). A bass may sound like a bass, a guitar, a synth or something else entirely. The two fluidly weave around each other in intricate hypnotic patterns, sometimes with a kicking beat to groove to, sometimes colored with wacky sounds and tones that make the whole thing into a sort of musical Jackson Pollock.
Le Fil Rouge is a lot of things, but definitely never dull or predictable. Come in with open ears and it’s a heady experience.
Rating: Bad-Ass
