Third Eye Foundation
I Poo Poo on Your Juju
[Merge]
Rating: 8.4
Did you have trouble finding the Foundation? No doubt you were lured by
those piano lines, those minor key chords waltzing through the streets of
Bristol. Come, meet me at the landing; our founder Matt Elliot favored it
during his days in Flying Saucer Attack. Have you heard the disembodied vocal
sample that has appeared and reappeared time and again? Surely, it's tucked
deep in your mind like a repressed memory. You remember it from the Peel
Sessions record, when it sang on "Some Pitying Angel," and from Little
Lost Soul, on the track called "Lost." This sweet voice has returned,
like a will o' the wisp come to lighten the murky swamp, on "La Dispute," a
remix of a work by French filmscorer Yann Tiersen. A haunting melody, to be
sure, with accordion underlying... but those lyrics! "So you say the world
is lonely/ You are alone..." But our Mr. Elliot was always the
dramatic one, wasn't he?
My lass, you seem familiar with the reconstruction work done at the Foundation.
In each room, you'll find a client in search of a certain inner nature which
yearns to be brought to fruition. Take, for example, Tarwater here in the
parlor. Their original piece, "To Describe You," charmed and delighted with
reminiscences typical of the Berliners: a distorted echo, metallic in timbre,
a mellotronic flute melody, and the whispered song title. Mr. Elliot took
these ambient whims and condensed them, feeding locomotive drum breaks that
pick up speed and threaten to careen off the tracks. Hold the handrail, dear,
as we descend.
An early diagnosis: you suffer from rhythmic redundancy, a condition brought
on by exposure to generic brand beats. Urchin did much the same, until Mr.
Elliot had a brush with "Snuffed Candles." Trip-hop drums once crippled
with age have become limber! Sub-bass hits looped with crisp toms whirl
madly around, thrusting digital snarls and scratches into the air! He
applies more of a sweeping motion to the "Remote Viewer," however, brushing
together various strands of antique acoustics and digital detritus, and
watching them eddy about. One feels distracted, constantly casting eyes
about as if having imbibed a tincture of laudanum... oh, but rest assured,
love, the sweet taste of this melancholy equals the bitter.
Some of our guests require more delicate handling than others. Inevitably,
extreme methods must be resorted to. Mr. Elliot was recently visited by
British comedic prankster Chris Morris, for instance, and the two concocted
a disturbing brew. It begins not unlike Spring Heel Jack's twisted take on
those Tortoise fellows, with ominous bass hearkening back to the Third Eye
Foundation's jungle period. Soon, imbecilic stammering and demonic squeals
(minions seemingly sampled from Morris' voice) give rise to a clamor,
buffeted about by a repeating steel drum sound. During Blonde Redhead's stay
here, the opposite pole was reached-- "Four Damaged Lemons" strips to nothing
but sepia-toned piano, drone and Kazu Makino's strangulated cry. At the
Foundation, one must delve to emotional depths, even revel in them, before
rising. Listen to her defeated warble: "Don't be a fool, make it easier/
You learn to say when/ Signal when you can't breathe no more..."
Delicious.
You may realize I've been referring to Matt Elliot in the past tense. He has
not left us, but this collection of collaborations will be his last as the
Foundation. He has a boy now, you see, and intends to leave the gloom behind.
The remix of Faultline's "MUTE" reveals the cracks along which his identity
has split. Massive, pane-shaking, stone-cracking drum and bass emanates
throughout, the only overt evidence of his Ghost album. You'll also
find splinters of his guitar strewn in wild electric torrents, a remnant of
his early "Semtex." But all things must pass, and rumors abound that his
next project will abandon both for a more positive, uplifting approach.
So settle back, child, the final number is a special treat. Acoustic frets
sharply struck combine with rumbling, haphazard percussion for a hiccuping
rhythm. A woman known only as Glanta lays her velvet rasp atop the slow
groove, as compelling as any swing-period chanteuse. She sings of a party
during which her urges get the best of her, specifically the libidinal
gyrations often justified as the "dance." A moment of déjà vu-- this is a
Jonathan Richman cover, though Glanta is more convincing, I think: "I've got
them all in my trance, when I dance." It is hard to deny the hypnotic nature
of the constant skip-scratch of needle drawn across vinyl. The fuzzy purr
of the phonograph production wraps around you like a lover's arms, pulling
you down into its bed. Tomorrow, we'll work on what ails you; for now, just
listen. You'll sleep well.
-Christopher Dare