“If you like daring, if you like to move, this album is quite ideal to motivate the beast that lies dormant in you”
1 Newquay Nightmare (16:19)
2 A Momentary Lapse of Tea and Cakes (1:12)
3 Deedoodletastic (12:29)
4 'ermless (1:32)
5 Danfango (12:08)
6 Groodle (2:08)
7 Blime E (16:13)
8 Gripple (0:35)
9 Bugfluff (11:04)
(CD 73:42) (V.F)
(Progressive EM, Ambient, Psybient)
Each Paul Nagle's project is an experience in itself. Nonconformist who hates labels, Nagle has always visualized beyond the eyes of others and made EM something other than a mythical resemblance to the Berlin School. Whether in solo, with Far From Stars, Binar or the very atmospheric Headshock, the chameleon man of EM continues to amaze and open up new horizons. EXCESSION is JIC's 3rd opus. Composed of Paul Nagle and Phil Simmie, this English duo delivers an opus of 5 major titles, interspersed with 4 short atmospheric tracks which serve as bridges, uniting two titles. Five tracks marked by a deviant minimalist, with frenzied rhythms by hammering percussions, a punchy bass and guitars with incisive riffs and solos! A splendid menu for avid ears.
Let's take an ear, or two, to this latest Joint Intelligence Committee. A slight buzz on a simple synth layer opens the rhythm with a quivering sequencer on good bass pulsations and hammering percussions. The guitar detaches its chords in stereo and all the movement comes to life in a jerky sequence with dance contours. Everything is echoed and unfolds like an immense delirium in staccato, where the reverberations of the structures of rhythms mingle with the loopers structures giving an incredible depth to the soft hardcore techno of Newquay Nightmare. Phil Smillie's guitar flows with a slight resonance, covering the rhythm with paradoxical warmth to a cold and mechanical rhythm. Gradually, the rhythm gets dressed in all its sound resources to initiate a torrid rhythm, free from any silence or atmospheric passages. The sound effects, the metallic percussions which collide and cross riffs of acid guitars and the flaming guitar solos on a sequential line with voodoo hypnosis are as astonishing as they are stripping. Over more than 16 minutes, JIC knocks us out with a hammering minimalism rhythm tinged with nuances and subtleties in the tones. A monstrous title that would find its place in any techno/rave party. A bit in the spirit of contradictions, A Momentary Lapse of Tea and Cakes is a short, relaxed title that bridges another explosive title Deedoodletastic. A galloping bass on light riffs and a corrosive synth with circular passages weave the backdrop of this funky track. Fluid, the sequencer filters segments with limpid or low tones harmonies, on a guitar with intense solos and riffs. A title in the same mold, but finely nuanced in the rhythms, like Newquay Nightmare.
Moreover, the chemistry of EXCESSION resides in its minimalist universe crushed by echo effects or loops on dense repetitions, like staccatos reached by a cyclical frenzy. After the short atmospheric 'ermless bridge, Danfango continues on an infernal rhythm and a convulsive guitar which sticks its riffs like a big timeless sound loop which foments solos inside its loops. The beat is furious and sticks as much to a big rock as to dance, with its tstitt tsitt cymbals and techno. More progressive than a simple techno, JIC presents us 2 passages where vocal effects and sound effects are the witnesses of the nonconformist which lives in JIC. Crazy rhythm and sublime arrangements, we cannot miss this work which is thumbing its nose at supposedly talented DJs. Uncontrollable and wild, Blime E is a paranoid fresco where the flow widens with the gap. Still well seated on sequenced riffs, the track evolves on floating and enveloping strata, like the draperies of a mansion that hides bats. Bugfluff, the superb ending of this simply crazy opus, ends on a softer note. And we understand a little better the structure of EXCESSION, because the loops here are flexible whereas on the rest of the album, they were sequenced and looped, loops over loop. A very nice way to end an album with rhythm to the bone.
I spent a totally crazy moment listening to this titanic work. JIC presents a tightly woven opus where there is no empty space. It bangs on all sides with a structure of rhythm and with tones that intertwine with heaviness and magnetism because it isn't not a vulgar imitation of any kind of techno. It's a new kind of techno. A progressive one which combines sequenced rhythms, aggressive guitars along vocal samplings and sound effects in a disharmonic disorder. A thing which always comes back looking for melody by minimalism rhythms which always end up emerging segment by segment. If you like daring, if you like to move, this EXCESSION album from Joint Intelligence Committee is quite ideal to motivate the beast that lies dormant in you.
Sylvain Lupari (December 12th, 2006) *****
Available at Joint Intelligence Committee Bandcamp