Search - Brown Whrnet :: Valamaranaro

Whornet's most accessible

The Pitiful Anonymous | the Acres of Skin | 03/28/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For those who don't know, which is likely anyone reading this review considering how obscure this band is, Brown Whornet is an extremely experimental and odd progressive rock band that has been known to play any style or genre of music without warning. They generally include a large amount inexplicable strangeness, silliness and filler on every album they release, even releasing an entire album with nothing that sounds like it's even intended to be "music" at all ("The Secret"). However, they're consistently interesting as well as hilarious. Their music has a sense of playfulness and daring that is rarely found.



"Valamaranaro" is easily Brown Whornet's most conventional album, being that every track except one can be called a "song"; includes instruments and real songwriting / arrangements. Indeed, the likely cause for this Austin band's lack of popularity or success is their deliberate and systematic refusal to become marketable in any way. This album is their one and only break from that.



It begins with lounge / muzak parody "Schwee Schway", two gibberish words that are repeated liberally throughout the whole of the album. This is followed by "Gobbalin", an odd and completely hilarious rap rock composition. Next is the title track, "Valamaranaro", which sounds like an odd-timed prog instrumental run through filters until the initial notes and timbres of the instruments have been completely mangled. Only the drums remained intact. This is a good example of the diversity to be found on any Brown Whornet album.



Later on the album is some of Whornet's best ever instrumental work, such as "The Untokening" and the brilliant solo in "Jerky Jim". The brilliant closer "Blon Jondell" is likely Brown Whornet's best song, incorporating a whole ambient section and some Porcupine Tree-esque vocal harmonies for an epic finish.



In summary, the album is too short, and like every Whornet album has too much silliness for its own good, but is very listenable and includes some of the band's best songs. I still think that "Radio Ablum" (not available on Amazon) edges it out for being Whornet's best, but it's better than "The Hamburger".



Obviously, few would buy an album by a band they've never heard of just because of a review like this, so I recommend spending the money to download one track, preferably "Jerky Jim", "The Untokening", or "Blon Jondell". If you like what you hear, this and the rest of the band's albums are available on CD from their website [...]."