posted 03/03/2006 (Fri) @ 10:20 am
>>> Music Reviews
Blackfield - Blackfield (2005)
Warm and fuzzy bleak-pop
- Open Mind
- Blackfield
- Glow
- Scars
- Lullaby
- Pain
- Summer
- Cloudy Now
- The Hole In Me
- Hello
- Perfect World
- Where Is My Love?
- Cloudy Now
Blackfield is a progressive rock/pop band whose blend of minor key melancholia and wall-of-sound euphoria works best as the soundtrack to late night lounging and contemplation. Maybe under blacklight.
With a lineup featuring Aviv Geffen (Israel’s David Bowie), and members of Porcupine Tree including Steve Wilson, musician and producer extraordinaire, Blackfield’s sound doesn’t stray too far from the Porc Tree blueprint — if anything, it’s simply more streamlined and spacey, and perhaps a tad bit more or less accessible, depending on preference. Hard rock listeners might be put out at the album’s stellar but soft-edged production, but the songwriting is sure to entice people from all walks of music-listening life.
The acoustics and pianos twinkle, the drums thump, the fuzztones are truly fuzzy — where Porcupine Tree has been given to knock-down, raspy, in-your-face metal chunk right along with the shimmering prog-rock guitar (such as on “Blackest Eyes,” the first cut from their “In Absentia” LP), Blackfield’s instrumentation is much more pop-friendly. The guitars swirl together in the mix, distilling a fog of tones that recalls the shoegaze of yesteryear. But, Steve Wilson’s knack for production insures that the vocal lines can just as easily melt into the mix while a repeated rhythmic motif takes center stage, such as on the outro to “Perfect World.”
Contrary to the warm production, “Blackfield” works wonders as a chill-out record. Hardly anything else is as relaxing as curling up with an ice cold beverage of one’s choosing and putting on highly-ornamented, sparkling, yet bleak pop such as this band can create. Recommended along with any Porcupine Tree record, especially “In Absentia” and “Deadwing.”
Tags: indie, metal, pop, relaxed, rock
