Digital Exclusive! New Orleans drone/shoegaze duo Belong follow-up their great "October Language" album with this vinyl release, available in download form only on Other Music Digital. An EP of '60s psych covers ("Late Night" by Syd Barrett, "Beeside" by Tintern Abbey, Billy Nicholls' "Girl From New York," and the July classic "My Clown"), the sheer originality of these interpretations again prove that Belong are at the top of the drone heap.
New Orleans-based Belong's October Language album from 2006 went largely unnoticed, which is a real shame since it is a great drone/shoegaze record. In a genre that is plagued by dull Fennesz rip offs and mediocre My Bloody Valentine clones, October Language stood out because of the meticulous crafting and precise attention to detail -- original yet not afraid to show its influences. Belong return here with Colorloss Record (a super-limited vinyl pressing, which is available in download form only on Other Music Digital), an EP of '60s psych covers. Even though the duo throw vocals into the mix, you'd be hard pressed to guess the originals since these versions sound weathered, like the musical equivalent of a faded photograph, and all that remains is a gorgeous, melodic core. The four tracks ("Late Night" by Syd Barrett, "Beeside" by Tintern Abbey, Billy Nicholls' "Girl From New York," and the July classic "My Clown") echo Basinski and, sure, MBV at times, but the sheer originality of these interpretations again prove that Belong are at the top of the drone heap. [AK] (February 1, 2008)
LINER NOTES:
While Belong still considers these cover songs, what we are presented with are shells, the ghosts of what we think we know about such a fleeting medium as music in the first place. And like the title
implies, the music sounds weathered, a faded version of some original we might only imagine. As a record of covers, it sounds like the sonic palimpsest that it is exactly. On "Colorloss", one finds a humble treatment of the hierarchy of sounds. It is the equal attention given to each sound and its place in the mix that makes this a true musical democracy where each element shines in its own way, while propping up the others in a puzzle that would charm Archimedes. A wash of fuzz finds itself meandering thru a track holding hands with the vocals, the space between a breathe before the next submergence. What we have as a result is work of such staggering beauty and melodic thoughtfulness to stop Kevin Shields in his tracks at the wonder of it. And while the instrumentation and means might be different, this is a music that has as much in common with late 20th-century composition in the vein of John Cale or Tony Conrad as it does with the soundscapes of William Basinski or My Bloody Valentine.