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Capillary Action

Fragments (2004)
Pangaea

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: Jesse
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on March 18th 2005

How do you classify an instrumental album that transcends genre? I'm not saying it's a mix of things, as in a homogenization of genre into ten songs. No, what I'm saying is that these ten songs each in and of themselves are strictly another genre. I mean, honest. The first song is ambient indie rock, while track two comes out with a prog-metal riff layered with dissonance and a bombast of piano smashing in a background. Then it breaks down into smooth, lounge jazz-guitar solos over ambient noises. Then back to the riff. Then back to the lounge jazz. Then one of the baddest metal riffs ever. And thus we have "Ticking Ghosts, Pt. 1," and "Ticking Ghosts, Pt. 2."

"Constant Steady Collapse" reminds me of indie rock video game music. Maybe the soundtrack to Outrun could be replaced by it. The laid-back, acoustic country-twinged pop of "Drive Through Twilight" is relaxing enough to play during a nap break. "Scattered Remnants" is sort of a smooth jazz odyssey, clocking in around eight minutes and featuring solos and moving parts. "A Hundred Pages Of Cannot Be Named" is a samba-influenced acoustic pop piece that I swear holds its Latin roots more authentically than most groups I've ever heard. "Mid-Coital Seizure" is Devo on crack. "It Was a Typewriter" is a short ambient noise piece with muted drums that I'd expect to be a B-side on Liars' They Were Wrong So We Drowned.

Perhaps the most impressive track comes next in the form of absolute kickass metalcore. I mean, it's an instrumental, so you know the entire focus is on the double guitar riffs, even during the breakdown. Oh, did I mention that there's an audio sample from Friday in it? "You got knocked the fuck out!" Then it's a spazz out bridge. Then it's a soft bridge with dissonance. Then it's prog-rock á la the Mars Volta, then super fast double-tapping riffs, then more spazz out á la grind, then more pianos and fading out.

"Pillars Disintegrate" is a slow tempo song that reminds me almost of a slowed down "Relative Ways" by Trail of Dead.

Anyway, the amazing part about this record is that every song is top notch and written of the highest quality. And every song is written and performed by one guy. Yes, one eighteen-year-old guy. The jazz solos are that of a veteran, the metal riffs rival Iommi's genius, the song layers revel that of Amon Duul II. It shows an amazing maturity and production values, seeing as how it was recorded by a roommate, mixed over a phone by some other guy, and self-released. Call it hype if you want, but I say this shit is genius and should be picked up by a real label.

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Anonymous (March 21, 2005)

its alright jesse, im a spazzy guy.
Although there's a 5 piece band now, when the recoding came out it was pretty much just jon, with me doing a bit of over the top stuff.
his roomate kevin was awesome, assembling the tracks, layting down the drums on a thousand pages, and there was another drummer involved as well in the recording.

its pretty interesting to see this feedback after going through the project all those months ago. i thought it was just a mad scientists dream or something.. late nights cooped up in dorm rooms trying to figure out exactly what the fuck he wanted me to play... fun fun shit

Jesse (March 20, 2005)

Sorry, Sam. I knew that other people worked on it. I got rushed at the end of the review. Give credit when credit is due. My sincerest apologies!

Anonymous (March 20, 2005)

Hey, this is sammy K, and i'd like to make one comment:

I play all the keyboard parts on this CD.
Thats' right, that shitty-ass solo on the latin song, the prog/metal/dumbass accoustic piano lines, the synth lines, the rhodes, yeah, thats a different person

I"M MY OWN PERSON DAMNIT

In the recording studio: (kevin alexander's dorm room) at 3 am at night, laying down the keyboard tracks:

Jon: "Sam, can you do some more spazzy kind of sound?"
Sam: "What the FUCK is that supposed to mean?"
Jon: "I don't know, fuck shit. Just play."
*Takes down a track*
Jon: "That wasn't what I meant at all!"
Sam: "OH SHIT IM FUCKING"
Jon: "0110111010111001010101010011011010011"
Sam: "001110110110100101010100101010011"

Anonymous (March 20, 2005)

this album rules.

jons a cool guy/

Anchors (March 20, 2005)

Using Knuckles in the chemical plant was key. He could climb those tall walls and find like 25 extra lives.

threechordsandthetruth (March 19, 2005)

Mortal Kombat I on Genesis had the coolest themetune EVER. Close runner up was Chemical Plant on Sonic.

ThriveToFailure (March 19, 2005)

Last boss fight in "Kirby's Dreamland 1" on Gameboy= the best video game music ever made.

No.

The bit in 'Zelda: Link's Awakening' when Link is in the first Face Shrine and finds out that the island isn't real, and the girl he is falling for doesn't even exist, is the best music on the Gameboy.

The Sunken Continent theme from 'Secret of Mana', the Angkor Wat music in 'Illusion of Gaia' and the Ancient City music from 'Final Fantasy VII' also all ride your little Kirby tune like a pink bitch.

...

I've just realised that I have absolutely no life.

lou (March 18, 2005)

definitely wanting to hear this now.

Anchors (March 18, 2005)

*Here

Anchors (March 18, 2005)

This sounds worth checking out.

Speaking of instrumental bands, while they're not entirely instrumental, anybody hear like Aurore Rien, and if so know what distros carry their stuff?

Jesse (March 18, 2005)

Ummmm...that's "Iommi," with an "I." As in Black Sabbath? Editors, sheesh...

Anonymous (March 18, 2005)

Last boss fight in "Kirby's Dreamland 1" on Gameboy= the best video game music ever made.

-Chinatown