REVIEW: Tranquility Bass, Let The Freak Flag Fly
(Astralwerks/Caroline)
- David Landgren
Imagine Santana and 10cc meets Transglobal Underground and The Orb. If you can get your mind around the concept, you'll have an idea of what Tranquility Bass sounds like: one of the most extraordinarily vibrant dance records, tinged with blues and country, I've heard in a long time.
The album opens up with "Five Miles High", a slice of funk that builds and builds in intensity, bursting out all over with all sorts percussion and brass. I can almost see the video clip: it's a live shot of the band, most of the musicians buried behind instruments and amplifier stacks. Then in comes this genuine Carlos Santana-style electric guitar, and you're hooked. Turns out, Tranquility Bass is not a cast of thousands... it's basically the work of Mike Kandel, backed up with a couple of friends, and a slab of electronic equipment. I think they call it deconstructed psychedelia.
The second track, more subdued, draws a parallel with Transglobal Underground, with its arabic la-la-la's, woman singing "I know it's hard sometimes/But I'm the same as you" and croaking frogs. I swear they've sampled the "dooot" of an early Macintosh booting up, and then there's the effortless change of key drawing out the 10cc influences. All of which is solidly grounded on a sturdy backing of brass and percussion. This is followed by "The Bird", with its little fluffy Orb-like sample of a girl "I sit and think what God must look like", and the rappers chanting "Lord make us one, make us one". It swirls and pulses in six different directions, slowly spiralling down into immobility. This stuff sends shivers down my spine.
And then, really strange, the fourth track is just a total anomaly. "Soldier's Sweetheart" is a traditional song (vocals + some sort of banjo); the lament of a woman whose man heads off to World War I and is killed in action. I assume it has great personal importance to the artist, but it's a non sequitur to me. I tend to skip over it about 50% of the time. This also applies to the very last track on the album: "Lichen me to Wyomin'". I stop the CD if I'm near the player. No regrets.
The gloom dissipates slowly through the murky stomp of "We All Want To Be Free!" Heavy-handed percussion, tired voices ("there's always someone in the crowd that just won't let us be"). Watch then, as things go spinning out of control in a blaze of sound on "Never Gonna End". This is definitely headphone material: check out the opening verse, where the left channel lyrics speak of youth and doubt, and the right channel lyrics speak of punishment and responsibility. Like the song says: "Give the freaks what they want." (and check out the cool electreatments to the voice). Irresistible.
The album wraps up with two songs, "I'll Be Here" and the title track "Let The Freak Flag Fly". Interestingly, they share the same melody and rhythm. Replete with lots of Orb-ian sound-bites "I have a problem trying to find where I am in the world." or "I'm where I am, I'm what I am, and I don't know how else I can put it." And one of the best thirty-second guitar solos I've heard in a long time (i.e, the sixties I guess), as it segues into the title track.
You're unlikely to hear any of this material on radio. Apart from the somewhat subversive nature of the message ("And if the children ask/it's just to free their minds/from the contstraints of space and time"... I wonder what he's talking about), the format is a long way from the three minute pop song: most of the tracks clock in at between seven to ten minutes. And in spite of the two dud tracks, I've bought three extra copies and given them to friends. So you should go out and buy one for yourself; you can't always count on a friend to slip you a copy. If your're still unconvinced, you can listen to some audio samples at the http://www.caroline.com/astralwerks/tranquility web site.
