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REVIEW BY KEVIN FILAN ====
Montreal bassist/songwriter/engineer Santino Coco
created The Syntax Cabal as a "personal playground for
discovering and developing new music." This four-song
sampler from his 2002 MP3.com CD is more experimental
-- and, frankly, more interesting -- than his more
conventional rock project, Fly Amanita. Coco's dark
ambient stylings are always interesting and frequently
haunting, and show real musical talent and promise.
Like many another bassist/composer, Coco's music tends
to develop along rhythmic rather than harmonic lines.
Songs like "The Sleeping Itch" are driven by fast drum
machine lines, broken at off intervals by dissonant
piano spikes, and waves of industrial noise. In
"Slice of the Sky" digideroo and acoustic guitar
sounds clash at first with a slow bass line, only to
join together in a jittery sound sculpture punctuated
by jagged piano lines.
Taking his cue from the minimalists, Coco holds his
songs together via a few simple phrases, repeated to
form a background atop which he lays other riffs and
counterpoints. "Bubbles from China" combines zither
melodies with a tape loop of running water to create
an Industrial zen koan that reminded me of vintage
Coil.
The real standout track on this CD, "Celexa" also has
a World Music feel. Named after an antidepressant, it
is the most melodic track here. Slow mournful rhythms
weave dark and funereal against each other. Behind
them a tape loop bubbles softly; as the song continues
it grows louder, until finally the melodies themselves
are swallowed in a dark, atonal noise which attains to
its own transcendent beauty as it too dies. It's an
eerie and unsettling moment, possibly the most
intelligent and most chilling I've heard yet on a dark
ambient CD.
Coco is obviously a developing musician (one could
hope that ALL musicians are developing musicians, but
that's another story.... ). He certainly has an
interesting ear and a unique way of putting material
together. I'd like to hear more of his work within
this milieu: I'd also like to hear him record some
more danceable songs. A few moments within "The
Sleeping Itch" hinted at danceability, but the groove,
alas, never arrived. Still, this is a smart, creative
and accessible CD.
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..for more info on " THE SYNTAX CABAL"- Email Me ..
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