While I would never undermine the importance of the extremes in the art world, I do find myself annoyed by them more often than I find myself drawn to them. Now, I ain't gonna explain about Robert Mapplethorpe or John Cage, but these days, it sometimes seems like there are fewer extremes than there were in the past. But they still exist; you just have to look a little harder now. (And even though they're often irritating, I concede that extremes do enable such goodies as jello, sauerkraut, and even Cinco De Mayo.)

So, for those of you not actively searching, here's an extreme: Seattle's Sky Cries Mary. These folks have been labeled everything from "space rock" to "trance dance" to "shoegazing." But what their sound actually appears to be is a coherent mess of layered samples, looped vocals, odd percussion and, well... nonsense. Sure, it's tolerable for a listen or two, but it's certainly not something you're probably going to listen to on a regular basis.

Now, frustratingly, on this collection of "oddities and rarities," there exist a few out- of- place tracks that are actually both memorable and hummable. This leads me to believe that Sky Cries Mary have the potential to write some incredible stuff, but abandon their true talent, resorting to an odd strain of barely listenable sonic art.

Of course, I concede that my short attention span probably has something to do with my slight dislike for the music. And in all honestly, there's nothing here that genuinely sucks. In fact, I've found songs like "Moonbathing" and "Bath House" to be quite pleasing after a couple of listens, which proves that extremes are often just what people need to expand their horizons.

-Nathan Bang

Sound Clip:
"Bath House"
MPEG-LayerII
64kpbs.44kHz.
270k.34sec.