Garnett James - Protect and Survive



More stripped down, skeletal, than the folktronics found on his free dwld over at LastFM, Protect and Survive is a far looser, more abstract experience. Recorded live at the Cube way back in 2003, it still sounds freshly pressed, leaping around, teasing out it's own vocabulary in wobbling milk bottles, skating envelopes and other digital dug-outs. Glitch-onically wholesome stuff that has a whiff of factory ambiance about it… All the differing textures rubbing up against each other nicely, keeping your attention right across the albums 67 mins, the space filled with flights of fancy (sometimes frustratingly fleeting), concentrated pulses and the occasional sink hole of pixel-headed whirl… Absolutely loving all those mechanoidal clippings going on here, coupled with those acid etched scampers and slip-tone tap-dancings on teeny triangles, makes this a truly visual treat… sound twisted outa shape, in pure audio autopsy stylee…Those shadow boxing pile-ups are also fun, not to mention the brief Stephen Hawkins/piano interlude… I secretly hope that some of these strange sounds were derived from the Avon Rubber PLC factory floor, I really do… micro-cosmic moonshine.

Comments

Charlie said…
wow that looks like a lovely package, different to the one I've got... I cannot wait until Garnett James plays some more gigs.
Amazing stuff.
seanh said…
really loved the last.fm album you included in your review, so I'd really like to track this one down. great stuff.
Cloudboy said…
...this new batch of releases from If records have really groovy packaging... all glitter/metallic sheen, something my scanner failed to capture... Really eager to catch GJ live, hope he manages to squeeze in a few this year... Seanh if you click the If Records link, you can buy a copy or message GJ via adspace... http://www.myspace.com/garnettjames
Unknown said…
Wow, thanks for the review Cloudboy- Deej and Charlie only enlightened me last night. Yes, all the factory sounds were indeed procured from Avon Rubber- I've worked there 9 years. I get out on the floor discretely recording stuff every so often, over the years the machines have got less and less as the business closes up departments. I'll capture their last gasping breaths though (sounds like a concept for the next one).
Cloudboy said…
that's so cool...