Search - Shadow Ring :: Hold Onto I.D.

Leaving the house becomes a dream

05/02/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've heard the term "anti-cool" used many times as a shallow attempt to manufacture hipness but it actually applies to the Shadow Ring. They're about the least 'cool' band on the planet. And, no, that isn't what makes them 'cool' either b/c NOTHING could ever make them 'cool' in a supermarket checkout magazine sense. But it is what makes them incredible.The Shadow Ring, appropriate to their moniker, live in their own private, asocial universe. Separated from all light & warmth (i.e. England). Not hostile to the ever-shifting whims of popular culture per se, simply utterly indifferent to them. Probably downright unaware of anything beyond their own immediate cosmology.In said cosmology, they have their forebears & great ones at that. Pioneers in the annals of challenging, underappreciated, outsider sound like the Godz, Amon Duul, Jandek, the Dead C., Cromagnon, the Velvet Underground, Wreck Small Speakers on Expensive Stereos, etc. But the ultimate result of a Shadow Ring album is quite unlike ANYTHING past, present, or future. An overwhelmingly odd amalgam of stuttering detuned guitars, primitive tribal drumming, eerie electronics, bizarre lyrical obsessions, & spooky spoken word 'singing' style. It is a signature sound that is impossible to forget after roughly 5 seconds of exposure.It's folk music really. Not the turtleneck-wearing drippiness typically associated with term. But if, like me, you regard the unique innermost expression of real individuals as a form of folk music, this certainly fits the bill. Phil Ochs as re-imagined by Throbbing Gristle if you will.And, besides, after the apocalypse, all music will sound like the Shadow Ring. Since that event is probably coming sooner than we might like, you might want to get in the ground floor."

May be the greatest band in the world!!!

DJRAH3 | Upstate, NY | 07/26/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Shadow Ring is the most vital band to emerge from the 90s and has grown increasingly essential during the early 21st. Imagine the Godz, Beefheart, a healthy dose of 90s filtered 70s electronics, and arch post-modern Wilde-style vocalizing, and you can unsucessfully pigeon hole this food\vermin obsessed UK\USA folk\clank hybrid. The only problem with I.D. is it is the only easily accessed Ring, though if this is the only one you can find, you can purchase with the assurance of owning one of the only records from one of the only extant bands that has anything relevant to offer the pop\avant\free rock canon.

Most Shadow Ring is vinyl only. If you own a turntable, IMMEDIATELY acquire The Lighthouse and Lindus - I think these are the only 2 relatively available (try Forced Exposure). The Lighthouse is as great a double lp as has ever been produced. Lindus, their most recent, indicates a more atmospheric, concrete direction but is incredible.

EVEYONE SHOULD HEAR THE SHADOW RING

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