GRAVIYAUNOSCH

"Graviyaunosch." "Graviyaunosch." Yeah. This album is a great step if you liked "Burning Stone" or "Hydero," since it's got the same bassist as those albums. Following "Burning Stone," its sound is more reminiscent of the rough and tumble "Stonehenge" era, but with the dextrous and melodic bass work of Masuda. The production is minimal, and this is by choice, where earlier it was perhaps by necessity. The net result is that, compared to the lusher sound world of "Burning Stone," the listener is overwhelmed by the colossal effort of just two people playing this elemental music without the use of overdubbing (or barely any, anyway). The title track is this album's epic, and it's a fast, loud, and insistent one punctuated by the duo's contrasting high and low vocal attack. The next five songs are simpler, sometimes not more than a single melody line or riff repeated, but they still carry a power. I actually admire yoshida for putting songs that some might say are "unfinished" on albums like this, because it gives a window on the creative process of some great and complex music. What really makes this album, though, are the last three tracks, all recorded live and with extensive use of effects on each instrument and on the vocals. "Acid Blue" is a riff in odd time underpinned by 4/4 drumming, followed by an awesome soaring rock guitar solo, except on the bass of course. This longer version of Stonehenge's "Big Head" is more definitive than the original, with scarily distorted vocals that sound like a whipping wind slowly destroying a short wave radio that's transmitting Yoshida's voice, while Masuda's big, live bass sound ascends yet again into the stratosphere for a gorgeous and etherial rendition and extension of the midsection's beautiful melody. Yoshida goes from drumkit to a marimba-ish, gamelan-like counterpoint for this section, and sings in a spine tingling operatic falsetto. I don't think I need to say any moe about that track. The finale, "B.U.G.", also originally released on Stonehenge, continues the brutal feel of the previous song, with mischevious and refreshingly wide open bass and drum trade offs. They really break the 5/4 (?) section down to its basics here and reassemble it in a sometimes hilarious fashion. I love this album.