| Beat The Dutch ~ Don't Send Me to Afghanistan I have to say it isn't easy defining or reviewing Beat the Dutch and their music. And that's just the way I like it. I mean is it Punk? Rock? Industrial? Jazz? Psychedelic? Classical??? Well, it's hard to say but Don't Send Me to Afghanistan does offer a wide variety of soundscapes ranging from the experimental and unusual to the, sometimes, traditional style. And lots of guitars. For those of you who find your taste in music doesn't quite fit into in an easily defined category, this may be for you. I have tried, in my own little way, to review the tracks that pour forth from the CD. Don't Send Me to Afghanistan In the opening track we are treated to nearly 8 minutes of BTD instrumental. The 'orchestra' warms up, we hear the sounds of various instruments all doing their own thing. The string, percussion and wind sections start to play their individual tunes creating a cacophony of sound. A drum beat rises, moving faster and louder, working up into to an almost military style as it rhythmically tries to call the others to order. Sounds of breaking glass intersperse as the keyboard winds its way around the track in a style that would fit right into the industrial landscape of Bladerunner. When we approach the last couple of minutes, depending upon your constitution, you may either go into a wonderful, deep, trance-like state or head for the hills hoping you don't get sent to Afghanistan if that is what it sounds like!
DMTA leads us effortlessly into Ambidextrose. Ambidextrose is an instrumental track that provides us with guitar in epic proportions. A jazz-like bass line hums modestly in the background. Barely making itself heard as we are treated to a crescendo of guitar. Guitars playing wonderfully loud, rhythmic and fast. They appear to be talking to each other, each vying for it's place amongst the fastest, loudest and greatest on the track and each seemingly getting equal approval. Then, as quickly as they appeared, the guitars leave, being replaced by a quirky sounding synth that leads us on towards the end of the track. For those who love your guitars loud and lively Ambidextrose may well be a track for you! Skip's Fragments Skip's Fragment is an experimental piece that incorporates numerous industrial sounds only BTD know whence they come. Such sounds blend together to create a piece of music that induces quite a dark and claustrophobic feeling. Musical instruments seemingly creating sounds of insects, monsters and a feeling of something unsightly creeping up behind you. On a personal level, I like music that creates such feelings and this track does that. But for others it may not be quite so. I shall leave it up to you to decide.... Keeps His Sign Leaving the industrial instrumental BTD tracks behind, Keeps His Sign moves us towards the unusual punk sound of BTD. The thrashing guitars, vocals and rhythm all lend themselves to early punk. Having said this, the lead guitar sound somewhat reminds me of the 60's psychedelic era. So much so, if punk rock did exist around this time then Keeps His Sign would fit in quite nicely. Untitled Jam The jam is on and here BTD move towards a track with a slight Blues/Jazz feel. A piano loops cooly throughout the track adding the jazz/blues feel whilst the guitars call to mind 70's progressive rock as they move in and out of the piano. On paper we have a mixture of styles and sounds that may not look like they should work, however, here on Untitled Jam they blend together to make a cool little track. So Tell Me 'So...Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me...' the vocals beckon us as the track itself appears to have influences from some of the interesting 70's progressive rock groups of that time. The guitars purr rythmically and the lead guitar moves along swiftly and sharply. Ettall For me, Ettall is possibly the track that stands out musically as the most punk of all the tracks on DSMA. A shorter track than most of the others on the CD but none the less packs a lot into nearly 3 minutes. The vocals are delivered with the right amount of venom, anger and sillyness fitting for the lyrics and the pounding baseline and guitars move along at such a pace my little feet couldn't quite keep up! Chattering After Silly Boy Blue, this has to be a personal favourite of mine. The guitars blend around in psychedelic haze almost reminiscent of early Pink Floyd whilst at the same time encompassing a blues-like sound if that's possible! I suppose for BTD it is. 'The music is pattering my nerves are chattering'. The story of 'Chattering' is told in a wonderful staccato style, vocals tell a poignant, woeful tale of loneliness reinforced by depression 'Sometimes you get to a point sometimes you lose your way, I like to get up in the morning and sit around all day' and 'can we reflect something good, have we something happy to tell?' In my opinion, a wonderful track. Piss on Styx Here we are catapulted into the world of Piss on Styx. And my word what a world! What can I say? Except listen for yourself, I dare you! This is pure experimentalism and may leave you somewhat bemused, amused and confused. Possibly wondering if you have entered the right room, it's just that all the lights are out and you can't find the switch. A review from me just would not give the track justice. OK, I admit it I just can't find the right words!. I shall also leave the rather amazing explanation of how the track was put together and, more importantly, how it got it's name to those more adept! The sound experiment was begun by making a series of ten scrapes along the bass strings of a grand piano, allowing ten seconds between each scrape and repeating the process on each of four tracks. Then throughout the night we took turns filling in the ten second gaps with whatever came to mind without ever listening to anything we'd already recorded. At the end we had one chance to mix it at about 5 in the morning! Richard A Room...Some Toys A Room...Some Toys is a rather haunting, minimalist track and my favoured instrumental piece on the CD. Here we have a rather haunting olde world style piano that takes the lead and moves atmospherically throughout the track. Industrial sounds blend in and out of the track and we catch the sound of echoing footsteps across the floor adding to the somber mood. The whole piece has a simplicity and bareness that emphasises the feeling of melancholy which pervades the track. I loved the 'sound' of the room with the wood floors and the natural reverb so Mark and I just set up the microphone and cranked it! Richard Can Pronini Sisti As Can pron Sisti begins we possibly have the makings of a 'Shaft meets Beat the Dutch' track. A rather groovy 70s bass line and chicka-chicka guitar kicks in. Images of 70's cool cops, leather jackets and flares come to mind, whilst a guy sits in a corner, cooly playing a bass guitar as a smouldering cigarette hangs from his mouth. Silly Boy Blue Well, after some of the mad, chaotic and often haunting and atmospheric tracks comes the beguiling Silly Boy Blue. A take on the Bowie track we have a rather unusual yet fitting end to the CD. Here we discover a sweetness, humour and naivete in the music and vocals which I found quite endearing and I was surprised to find myself smiling along to the track on more than a couple of occasions. After some of the heavier, darker tunes Silly Boy Blue left me feeling lighter. The piano plays a sweet jazz type melancholy as the guitars come in now and again in a BTD style witnessed in the earlier tracks. The vocals are sweet, vulnerable and laid bare as is fitting for such a track. It shouldn't work, but somehow Silly Boy Blues ends the CD wonderfully, leaving us feeling a little calmer than when we came in and also illustrates the diversity of BTD perfectly. |
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