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art by Todd Brooks
"Pendu Sound Recordings is pleased to present the first full length vinyl platter from Brooklyn's own self-described 'harmoniacal' trio. 34 minutes of spontaneous anarchic abandon ranging from frenetic blasts to heavy grooves to quieter, creepier tiptoe blips and percussive hits. The Excusable Earthling is a chaotic, fun, and all-around sick record!"
Hailing from Brooklyn, New York Talibam! have been making their presence felt since 2003 through numerous live gigs, self-released cdr’s and label releases. Talibam! have toured Europe twice and will be going back later this year. They have releases on Azul Discografica, Evolving Ear, Ecstatic Peace, Gaffer Records, Blackest Rainbow, and others.
"The Excusable Earthling session came about fast. we played a gig at a brooklyn bar where we were shut down after about five minutes by some angry bar wench. luckily, our buddy alex was there and i asked if he had recording gear he said ya and it was set to do the session the next day. it was december and cold but the music on this lp shoots with warm light and radiant energy. maybe it was our frozen toes or more likely our will to triumph that make this record rule so much." - Talibam! |
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Talibam!
The Excusable Earthling (2007)
Catalog# PSR-0022
Format: LP
Release date: 9/11/2007
Listen to the entire album on Last FM now!
Tracklist:
Side A - Explosive Soul (17:36) [MP3]
Side B - One Way Foot (17:30)
Also available by Talibam! from Pendu Sound -
Various Artists - Getting Rid of the Glue LP
more about... Talibam! tour info, bios, videos, pics, etc.
Reviews for The Excusable Earthling
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Review from Smooth Assailing
"talibam!, at their core, consists of drummer kevin shea, most notable, outside of this group, for being in math-rockers storm & stress. he was (is?) in coptic light (with members of antioch arrow and don cab) and is also in people with brooklyn staple mary halvorson. the other member of talibam! is synthesizerer matt mottel. matt's additionally in shadowmaps and syntony. they've also employed the guitar services of matthu stull and, for this record, they were joined by ed bear, who handled the tapes, baritone sax and, the somewhat cryptic, electronics. irrelevant side note: project ed bear is a volunteer organization dedicated to providing comforts and needs for pediatric oncology patients in northeast ohio.
free improvisation. its merits are debatable. at its least compelling, it just comes across as pointless meandering and rather self-indulgent. the thing about it though, is that it offers a voyeuristic glimpse into the creative process and those spontaneous moments of brilliance that can arise out of that meandering is what really makes it worthwhile. the two seventeen minute long tracks which comprise the excusable earthling provide such payoffs, you just need to be a little patient.
explosive soul starts us off in familiar free-whathaveyou territory; build-up. there's occasional drum hits, random synth blurts and strange sounding electronics, but that's really all. musically, it seems like they're cautiously testing the waters while avoiding rhythm like it had aids. after a few minutes into it i started up an esoteric inner monologue about how something like this, which completely eschews traditional musical structure, is far less musical than harsh noise despite the fact that it contains some actual musical instruments, not just a bunch of ways to manipulate sound. at least with noise, more often than not, i find repetition, which is, truly, the foundation of music. pop songs are that because they're catchy. they're catchy because of repetition, in one form or another. here, there are three distinct entities which seemingly work against each other. if you're familiar with the barbaric technique of quartering, it's kind of like... but 33 and 1/3'ing, i'd imagine. one thing that this approach does provide is the ability to pick and choose which aspect you want to hone in on, which can drastically change the whole feel of the track; with each element being unique and not necessarily working in unison with the others. as soul progresses, it will touch on periods where at least someone will manage to form a pattern with their sound and it's awesome. most of the time that comes by way of mottel's lead, but when kevin joins him (say, at around the eight minute mark) it's a wonderful thing. they'll spend so much time creating this air of anticipation that when it comes, no matter how small it is, you want to wholly embrace it. the a side gives us quite a few of these smaller moments. sometimes the interplay is between synth and drums, other times it's matt and ed, sometimes it's just the synthesizer. the point is that, more often than not, they'll throw us the proverbial bone and it's well worth the wait.
in comparison to side b's one way foot, it's hard not to view explosive soul as a tease. this piece manages to be both more avant-garde and more accessible than its predecessor, which to me equals perfection. it begins sort of how i wished corsano, flaherty and yeh's a rock in the snow was with minimal percussion, slow sax drones and then synth; obviously swapping out spencer's noise for the synthesizer, though. i dig this a lot more. it soon becomes all about mottel's great fucking synth leads. ed does a great job of backing him up with complimentary noises, and shea lays down some terrific percussion, but matt's synth is the highlight for me. at times it sounds like the soundtrack to what i could only imagine would've been the craziest nintendo game ever. right before ten minutes, matt and kevin will get into one of those great psychic connections where they're both in the zone with each other and it's times like this that i'm really in awe of what talibam! is capable of. when it seems like they could just click and get into a jamming groove at the drop of a dime after spending maybe ten minutes doing their own things individually is impressive. after reaching a great height, they'll spend the final third of the track on really subdued sax, percussion and synthesized piano, which is lovely, and occasionally memorable. dope record, for sure. i'm not going to post any audio clips this time because a) you can stream full-length versions of both sides on talibam!'s last.fm page and b) because you can download this at the stabbed in the face blog. todd, who put out the record, doesn't seem too concerned with the fact that it's freely available since he posted: "after you download a copy, you should buy one from pendu sound recordings at pendu sound... talibam! will appreciate it. cheers!", in case you have weird internet guilt. not sure about the other links, since it was upped on sharebee, but the mega upload option is still active." - by avant gardening from Smooth Assailing
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Scott Soriano of S-S Records from Terminal Boredom's 2007 Greatest Hits
"Another one that came out of nowhere, at least for me. Upon first listen, I thought these guys were a dozen or so, but, nope, just three dudes making a hell of a lot of sound. A zillion slivers of noise assembled in free jazz context makes for great listening." - Scott Soriano in Terminal Boredom
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Review from O Bom Garfo
"Fucked up trio from Brooklyn, NYC, consisting of Ed Bear (electronics, sax, vocals), Kevin Shea (drums) and Matt Mottel (synth), they make some of the wildest free music around. They are a mixture of all the free music of the last 40 years or so, going from a woozy free jazz via Sun Ra to cracked fuzzed noise-rock in two seconds. It´s simply great Improv music with a muscular (not macho!) sensibility, full of groove, fragmented melodies, cosmic textures, ascending to space and descending to hell in less than nothing. The Excusable Earthling, their first Lp, consisting of two long improvised song, could be a good introduction to their music. Take a close look." - mississippi blind joe on O Bom Garfo
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Review from Arthur Magazine
"The first few things we heard by Talibam! didn’t raise many huge welts, but their debut LP, The Excusable Earthling (Pendu Sound) kinda raises the stakes. For whatever reason, it’s now possible to fully appreciate how totally screwball Matt Mottel’s synthesizer work is, amidst the improv blather of Ed Bear and Kevin Shea. Dunno if it’s the recording or what, but Earthling jumps out like one of the duppiest key-bloats since those early Six Finger Satellite disks. Imagine! Jazzic in a different way" - Thurston Moore and Byron Coley, Bull Tongue in Arthur Magazine
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Review from Downtown Music Gallery
"This is the second Talibam! disc in the past few months and it features the same trio of improv loonies: Ed Bear on bari sax, tapes & electronics, Matt Mottel on synth and Kevin Shea (from Peter Evans Qt & People) on drums. Unlike their previous CD on Azul Discografica, this one has no guests. Each side of this LP/EP has one 17 1/2 minute piece. Side 1 is called "Explosive Soul" and it contains some fine Sun Ra-like electric synth, twisted electronics and/or sax and tight, explosive drums. This music is too focused to be considered just free-form noise. There is a strong and spirited connection between Matt's warped keyboards and Kevin's solid inter-weaving drums. About midway through the first side, the trio starts to rock out for a bit into a joyous groove and then ascend into an impressive wall of noise that finally breaks into fragments. Near the end they sound as if they are about to break into some great sixties rockin' riff tune, before the tempo explodes into a punk-rock rage. Side two is called "One Way Foot" and has that Sun Ra-like alien-worlds texture. Soon the cosmic sludge starts to thicken as Kevin's spins his percussive web into a more focused morass. Talibam! have a way of embracing various elements at the same time, free/noise meets head on with some more crazed punk-rockin' insanity. Most often they sound as if they are having fun, sometimes they almost go to far into the extreme. Inspired insanity from this ridiculous local trio." - BLG, Downtown Music Gallery
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Review from Dusted Magazine
"Structured improvisation from a trio of Ed Bear (electronics, sax, vocals), Kevin Shea (drums) and Matt Mottel (synth). Darlings of a tiny sliver of the avant scene here in NYC, their heavy rep is fairly justified here across two sidelong pieces that hold the attention really well, as bits of melody grind it out amidst seamless transitions into freer modes of play. Quite a lot going on here given the rigidity of the lineup, a series of loose melodic attacks that gather steam then scatter in the wind. Sort of rock-based in spots, but I'm all for such cross-pollination. A good time herein." by Doug Mosurak, Dusted Magazine
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Review from Tiny Mix Tapes
"Why is so much of the so-called experimental noise scene so apathetic? As much as people try to justify If one were to judge the musicians working in the polar musical extremes, the base similarities might very well be comparable to the disparities. Apathy is a turd, yet somehow it’s become a prevailing mindset for many musicians, sadly even for those who thrive on being fringe. Deliberate apathy versus genuine ignorance — it’s a fucking mess. Perhaps it’s a case of misanthropy, but it’s painful to watch fans rally around otherwise innocuous "noise" musicians whose only seeming function is to extend their braggadocio by being LOUD. Couple this with avant-garde music’s otherwise arcane academics (think modern composition) and it’s no wonder why so many people are left feeling alienated.
But then we have groups like Talibam! Finally a band that lives up to its exclamatory moniker, Talibam! are a refreshing reminder that experiments in sound aren’t inherently exclusionary, even ones so tonally harsh and rhythmically spastic. To the untrained listener and/or lazy journalist, the band could be construed as "wild," "untalented," or worst of all, "primitive," but even cursory listens to The Excusable Earthling reveal not layers or narratives or semiotic devices, but a very in-the-moment sound that resists any foretelling construction or organizing principle. It’s the difference between genuinely responding to a joke with laughter and a sitcom character who doesn’t laugh because it’s not in the script. Still, it’s far from anarchy — The Excusable Earthling is an invitation to engage, inclusive and intelligent, so organic and free-range it could be stocked in a natural food store.
Although The Excusable Earthling is Talibam!’s first full-length vinyl release*, this fact belies the experience of the members. Consisting of one of the best drummers in the American underground Kevin Shea, the ever-so-explosive Matt Mottel on synthesizer, and occasionally Ed Bear on bari sax, tapes, and electronics, the members of Talibam! have worked with everyone from Cooper-Moore and Chris Corsano to Peter Evans and Akron/Family. But their vast list of related bands and collaborations say nothing about the music. Here’s a signature sound, not in the sense of being "new" or necessarily "different," but because Shea, Mottel, and Bear leave individual sonic imprints that are attuned specifically to each Talibam! moment, while any instance of seeming individuality is insinuated in a wider collective discourse. Sound stuffy? Don’t worry, it’s not reflected in the music.
Talibam! are perfect examples of music not made, but done — communal in its approach, yet never regressing to trite psychedelia or transparent "primitivism." With an attentive ear and your guard let down, you can literally hear the band searching for different textures and varying dynamics, striving for moments of pure connection but also boldly looking for exits when they do. Hell, you may even get to hear a little tonality and a 4/4 beat. I’ll be straight with you: this is "difficult" music, but only for as long as your cultured idioms allow it. The sounds are striking and the performance is penetrating — this is physical music, and if you can’t get down with that, then you’re in a world of theory and illusions. To be sure, any Talibam! recording is best approached as a document of a vibrant process, not a cold, aestheticized artifact. Besides, given our current political, social, and cultural circumstances, our interests would perhaps be more wisely vested in the very same movement and dynamicism that afford Talibam!’s musicking.
* Talibam! also issued their first two "official" CD releases this year, including the highly, highly recommended studio album, Ordination Of The Globetrotting Conscripts." -
Mr P, Tiny Mix Tapes
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Review from FLAVORPILL
"celebrate anxiety-jazz Talibam!'s third (yes, third) release of the summer, The Excusable Earthling. Matt Mottel's synthesizer antics rip like he learned to play from John McLaughlin... Behind it all, drummer/show stealer Kevin Shea (voted World's Greatest Percussionist by the Japanese Journal of Bullying!) fondles a 3/4-size kit with maniac clatter. So see Talibam! before they release another Zappa-meets-Zorn concoction, or file a habeas petition at Guantanamo, whichever comes first." -MG, Flavorpill NYC, Issue 378 |
