FRANCES THE MUTE

I've been reading this site for quite some time and this album got me motivated to post a review fopr the first time. I loved the debut, but their problem is..... the noise. It was present before, but in smaller doses. It is the same principal applied when an "artist" throws some paint on a canvas in a random pattern and calls it "art". Come on. Its crap. Same thing with noise noodling. Got news for you: its not art - it is simply noise. Don't get me wrong - when these guys are actually playing, their stuff is 5 star material. Out of the 75 minutes on this disc - about 45 is great stuff. And I mean GREAT. But for some reason, they tend to go off on tangents that are 4-5 minutes long in length involving bleeps, whirring, and just sound in general. If you want to hear that, I have a great suggestion for you that you may not have thought of - go outside and walk around. You can hear some great "noises" doing that. But don't put it in a record, causing me to have to use the fast forward button. Now for the good: as I indicated - when this album gets going - it is very unique and in line with the previous release. I find it interesting that so many give this 5 stars without thinking. Notice very few mention the noise? Wonder why.... 3 stars for the good stuff in between the noise.