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| CD Review: Full - Part of Religion EP |
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 If you'd rather pound tent-spikes into your ears with a five-pound sledge-hammer than listen to another grindcore, power-pop or Creed-clone indie band that wants to wow you into submission, don't pick up that hammer just yet. With the release of Full's four-song "Part of Religion" promotional EP, there may yet be hope that experimentation isn't a lost art. Band: Full (Flash required)
CD: Part of Religion: Promotional CD (four cuts)
The Praise:
If you're ready to push your concept of pop music to the next level, you'll want to experience "FULL." This daring sextet utilizes a multi-varied palette of rich acoustic instruments including vibes, cello, horns and even djembe (Africa drum) layered in a thick bed of heart-pounding electronic drum & bass. Their cold-fusion of pop hooks, jazz bytes and new-age nuance may be the most innovative sound I've heard come out of Michigan.
But Full doesn't stop pushing the envelope with their melange of instrumentation, or even their hot stew of pop, house and jazz influences. They go one step further by challenging the pop listener to accept some spicy dissonance with their dreamy dance-beats. Singer Kate Lamb's velvety phrasing, contrasted with the bold horn work of Jason Kirk and the irrepressible wanderlust of vibeist Tacket Brown, ventures into harmonic territory not so familiar to the mid-western pop consumer, but recovers quickly and often enough to suspend sonic disbelief.
The Punch:
There are two mixes of FULL's "Part of Religion" on this disc and at least one more on the second disc I received. Add to that, the fact that CDDB lists the song "Part of Religion" as "So What?" by Ronni Jordon (the mix-er I assume?) only adds to my confusion and irritation.
Though it's become standard practice in the electronica world, I've always found the search for the elusive mix to be a bit irritating. When I've internalized a hook, a phrase or just a feeling in a piece of music, I find it hard to accept another vision of the same artwork using the same media. To me, It's like mixing up the paint on the artist's canvas before it's dry.
But this is more of a character flaw on my part than any fault of theirs. I could accept the argument that different "colors" in the same media, such as Warhol's "Electric Chair"series, evoke different moods while remaining true to the original "theme" of the work. But such analyses are better left to deconstructionist wanks than old-school bandheads like me. Time is short, life is hard and two versions of the same song on the same disc seems presumptuous.
Perhaps growth on my part is in order.
Conclusions:
Too much spice and you ruin the pop soup, too little and it's just the same vapid swill you've been gulping from the radio speakers ad nauseam. But with just the right amount of aural friction, as on this fascinating promotional CD from FULL, you find yourself mystically satisfied. Be sure to Visit Full's Website (Flash required) to get a taste of this strange, but satisfying brew.
Nut-shells: This is Basia (if you remember Basia) on Ecstasy; This is William S. Burroghs meets Edgar Rice Burroughs in the Dreamscape Dance Emporium; This is the soundtrack to the next posthumously-hip Stanley Kubrick film; This is a guilty treat for my tired, desensitized ears. It's just very, very cool and I can't wait to hear more.
- Mitch
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