Despite the associations with the freak
folk (or “New Weird America”, if you will) scene, the opening sounds of the
Madison based collective’s newest cassette, released on Wisconsin’s esoteric label
Brave Mysteries, come closer to Lee Noble’s lo-fi outsider drones than loosely
formed nature jams. Eventually, the sparse percussive sounds emerge from the gentle,
ambienty loop. The impression of an instrumental jam gradually unspooling fades
away quickly, because on this tape Second Family Band decided to go into a far
more synth-based areas full of eerie echoes and dreamy shimmering synth solos.
Second Family Band were always the “connectors”
between the two scenes: on one side we have the “family” aspect: music as a
communal experience and the result of sharing creative ideas in the form of
improvisation, putting heart and soul into the act of creation and channeling positive
energy; on the other side there’s an “experimentation” factor: channeling the
spirits of mid-century avant-garde composers, early electronic shamans (such as
Popol Vuh) and crafting a special brand of meandering, psychedelic electronic
music with the intention of “zoning out” the listener. Twelfth Night Reunion is an
abstract assemblage of forms, cavernous and spacy with mercilessly reverbed
synth waves, yet always “littered” and “busy” with stray guitar noodling and percussive
clatter. The closest modern comparisons would be the early work of Super
Minerals (e.g. Pelagics) and the more avant-garde moments of No Neck
Blues Band (e.g. Letters from the Earth)
and Sunburned Hand of the Man. But after a while, when you think you’re stuck
with haunting calls and hazy reverb, the side hits a faster, funkier side (“Feast
of St Nicholas pts 1 & 6”) with a bass and organ driven freestyle hippie
jam with a liberal use of cymbals by the drummer. “Under the Harvest” goes from
a slow, acoustic start to a rhythmic, moaning kraut-folk in the style of Amon
Düül II’s Phallus Dei.
Side
B gets back on the track with droning, wandering kosmische synth lines (“Feast
of St Agnes pt 5”). This is Second Family Band at their most cosmic, taking
numerous cues from classics of early ambient and progressive electronic music.
Furutistic, desert-like drones loom in the distance while a dark cloud of
bassy, humming electronics rises above the horizon, like a brewing storm. The
prog suite then goes into more abstract areas, with eerie synthesizer creating
a relentless rhythm while a mysterious, processed voice moans in the
background. While on the previous side the ambient, electronic track was an
introduction to the folkier, “freakier” parts, here it takes the majority of
the side, sinking itself in as it progresses. Unlike Excepter, which split from
the original line-up of No Neck Blues Band to make purely electronic music,
Second Family Band feels no need to separate themselves for playing folk and
electronic music, here they make smooth transitions between the areas, often
overlapping both areas with acoustic guitars co-existing peacefully with
sequencers and synthesizers. And while you might think “this has been done so
many times before”, one cannot help but marvel how easily Second Family Band
connects both ends and how comfortable they are with both worlds. A nice
addition to the SFB discography and a nice little tape keeping just the right
amounts of otherworldly meditations and outsider freakouts.
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