Chicago has long been the home of pioneering freethinkers across a host of musical genres. The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) remain true originals in the improvised music realm, Tortoise helped put post-rock on the map, and The Flying Luttenbachers birthed “brutal-prog” while U.S. Maple’s “anti-rock” approach drew on no wave and minimalism.

Then there’s Chi-town’s long running Cheer-Accident, classification-defying experimentalists who rank somewhere near the top of the “best band you’ve never heard of” list. A tirelessly creative freak-force of nature, C-A have flown under the radar while amassing a staggering 18-album catalog over their three-decade lifespan on the fringes of progressive rock, art-pop, and noise.

C-A’s M.O. has been one of constant reinvention, and 2017 was a treasure trove of old and new sounds. SKiN Graft Records reissued 1999’s angular, herky-jerky Trading Balloons and 2000s outings like Salad Days, which consists of jagged, jangly pop, and Cuneiform Records released Putting Off Death, a fresh batch of lush keyboard and horn-driven orchestral post-jazz weirdness.

That deep-seated eclecticism and left-field approach is further crystallized on the sparkling—and strangely accessible—new effort Fades…. (continued)

LINK:

https://daily.bandcamp.com/2018/06/11/cheer-accident-fades-review/