Thursday, July 23, 2015

Cassette Review: Far Rainbow "No Medicine That Can Cure A Fool"


[£6 // Edition of 50 // https://farrainbow.bandcamp.com/album/no-medicine-that-can-cure-a-fool]

"No Medicine That Can Cure A Fool" begins with field recordings that sound like we're out on a highway somewhere.   There are also sounds of what could be rain mixed in as well.  Mild lightsabers come through, crackling and then an ohm tone drone.    Cymbal crashes give way to birds chirping    Back and forth tones come out like an accordion and then there are bangs and crashes.    There are industrial style drums coming out with the hums and birds still present.     The sound begins to expand as if it begins as some tiny object (Compared to the universe, a single road or highway even could be quite small) and then expands to something as vast as the entire universe, a notion I also believe is explored further on the next piece.

Side B begins with quietness again and it doesn't feel like we're quite as busy a street as Side A but there are some sounds which put us on some sort of field recording for sure.    Drums come up with whirrs, wind blowing and other sort of tones in the background coming out almost as feedback.   It has a haunted feel to it on some level but really it just feels like it is building to something greater.    Acoustic guitar strums give way to eerie whooshes and it just feels like we're trapped in a land of damned souls but yet there is this pleasantness or at least normalcy coming out of it that shouldn't quite be there.   Cymals crash and the song is certainly building as it goes on.    In some ways I feel as if it has the chugging of a locomotive, though the feedback feels a bit out of place for this to simply take place on a train.    The feedback feels as if it is being manipulated and it comes through with another sound I can't place now as the drums have taken a back seat.

The banging of the drums does return though- and even the cymbals- as they begin to take the track back over and the other sounds are all still there they are just more equally present.   I'm still not sure what's going on in the song in terms of seeing it as an image or movie but it almost feels like it is screeching and is losing the idea of it being sort of spooky or eerie.    The haunting feeling has gone away and it just feels now like someone trying to control their guitar like a lightsaber, in front of their amp, while the drums bang along but there is also another sound I cannot quite place and, yes, I do think it's outside still for some reason also.

As space laser whirrs come through the pace begins to quicken.    Radio frequencies shoot out for a little R2D2 action.   Whatever we were doing before doesn't matter as it feels as if we are now going through a time vortex.   Space laser whirrs blast through like prog rock as the drums faithfully play along, all part of the musical adventure keeping us tied to both outerspace and the visual and music as the audio at the same time.   The drumming becomes heavier at the end as the static of the robot circuits coming through changes with it but ultimately dies out as we're left with mostly just the drumming by the end.

A lot of times listening to music that I consider to be ambient takes me to places where I can see things but somewhat forget that I'm actually listening to music as well.   Far Rainbow has done a stellar job of creating something which can take you away to another place while leave you completely grounded, remember that you are listening to music.   While this may or may not have been done before (I'll assume probably) I haven't yet heard it or at least like this and as such "No Medicine That Can Cure A Fool" becomes essential listening.





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