Search - Gate :: Monolake

The Monolake...

06/28/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Gate is Michael Morely and the friends he feels like working with at the time. Morely is a NZ musician and visual artist, known for his involvement in the groups Wreck Small Speakers on Expensive Stereos, the Dead C., and 2 Foot Flame, in addition to working with the likes of Lee Ranaldo.`The Monolake' is Gate's second album for the Table of the Elements label, and to some degree follows in the footsteps of the amazing `The Dew Line'. Both are albums that explore the exciting and unpredictable area that lies between structured and unstructured "music". `The Monolake' is composed of some more "songic" stylings and carefully crafted noise soundscapes. The album starts off with Standing in Fields (using a sample, I think, from the Rolling Stones), described somewhere as being dangerously close to stadium rock. Not so- Morely's buzzing guitar drones rise to meet the looping sample, and the rest of the song is interplay between the catchy repeated loops and moving guitar textures. To Kiss the Wall is all shimmering overlaid guitar sound, devolving at the finish into an ominous sort of acoustic strumming. The third and fourth tracks, The Hero Tree and Sonora Purring, are more extended works of noise, made up of layered, droning guitar scrape and riffs, with some slowly recited and slightly buried lyrics thrown in Sonora Purring for good measure. The album comes to a close with a lovely cover of Faust's song Jennifer, who Gate has toured with previously.`The Monolake' and previously mentioned `The Dew Line' are both quite excellent, and I consider them among the best of my collection. The third installment of Gate for Table of the Elements, titled `The Wisher Table' has been due for release for some time (mysteriously held up), and considering the level of the previous two albums will be a must-have. Other Gate albums worth looking up include `Golden' and `Live in NYC and Boston'."