Search - Headless Torsos, David Fiuczynski :: Amandala

Nice rock fusion, loses focus here and there

resident_out_of_touch | Schenectady, New York United States | 04/25/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"fuze, as he is affectionately known to his fans, is a skilled and innovative guitarist, and his playing alone makes this cd a worthwhile purchase for musicians. dave and the torsos (these ones aren't screaming, as someone else pointed out, which is fine by me, im not so into dean bowman) dish out fairly abstract and elaborate rock-derived funk/groove compositions, peppered with skillful musicianship on the parts of all the players. Things get a little too wierd at times though, as if they simply ran out of ideas as composers. The same problem is present on Lunar Crush, Fuze's otherwise amazing collaboration with John Medeski. Fuze's technique employs some bizarre harmonies and melodic structures, and when those are applied to an entire composition things just get crazy. if you're into that then thats cool, but i can't really handle a song like Pattern 178, or Shannon's Kitchen, which starts out with some nice funk and tremolo work-out, but winds up in a zappa-esque breakdown that is spastic, esoteric, and generally unnecessary. My favorite track is probably the first one, as it seems to be the most tight and concise composition of the lot, as well a very cool and spacey tune. The rest of the album however tends to meander into unfocussed noodling at times, which simply is not very interesting to listen to for me.



The band displays symptoms of "noise making" as well. i don't recall where exactly it occurs, but the tell-tale signs are there: endless drum rolls that bear no coherent purpose, gratuitous hand percussion sprinkled through the mix like confetti, and the worst: the sound of the guitarist vainly scratching away at thestrings, desparately trying to produce some sort of interesting sound. i absolutely can't stand it when people do this, it is the most tasteless and unpleasant sound you can produce with a guitar. when a band ventures into the abstract world of free jazz-esque soundscaping, a sure sign that the guitarist does not know what to do with his guitar in that context is the sound of a pick being hammered across muted or not-cleanly fretted strings. pink floyd is one example of the few bands that manage to do the "noise" thing right, without becoming self-indulgent, tasteless or boring. unfortunately the torsos seem to lose track of themselves and their abilities when they depart the tightly scripted world of funk/fusion compositions. my solution would be to not depart those compositions. As i said earlier, the best moments on this album are the most coherent, when the band is locked into a tight groove, and maybe Fuze is shredding some esoteric mad jazz lines over top of it. as soon as things get "experimental" they get equally uninteresting. ambient noodling is an overused and abused method, since many people seem to think that all they have to do is make noises. making noises is easy. making noises that aren't useless and nonsensical on the other hand is rarely achieved successfully, and unfortunately this cd is no exception.



all that bad news aside, when the torsos are actually playing music it is excellent stuff. the band and Fuze's Ibanez in particular has a lo-fi, fuzzy sound that i'm not too big on, but the playing is there regardless. Fuze's technique is astounding, he is one of the few players i have heard effectively employ the whammy bar as a part of the instrument. his solos shift from blinding fusion shred madness to bendy lines of abstract melody coaxed out of the whammy bar. sort of like the band as a whole, he is most successful when his notes ring through clearly. sometimes the distortion muddies things up a bit too much, just as the bizarre musical structures sometimes muddy up the compositions."

Power

nanarodez | Slovenia | 07/25/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What a greate jazz-rock-funk-punk record. Record is a full of power and invention guitar passage. Greate!"

Fuze will kick your ear

Ryuta Suzuki | Sapporo, Hokkaido Japan | 01/23/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Great!Great!Great album.Songs have many passion.And all of players in there makes good sound.It become good ensamble.And Structure of song is intersting!Amazing!
It's just like kareidscope.Drumatic!So,nice.If you have concern the music,you should try."