There are some albums and other musical epochs that, through
their innate eccentricity, retain an underlying feeling
of modernity long after their chronological heyday.
Let's hypothetically assume for a moment that
Kraftwerk originated in 2000 rather than 1970; we'll
have Thrill Jockey release their masterpiece,
Autobahn, give John McEntire engineering
credits, follow it up with a North American tour
backing German brethren Mouse on Mars and then
read the new cover story in Revolution (That hurts -- Ed.) about how this
landmark IDM group has taken the melodic aesthetics of
Autechre and fused them with the bedroom sampling of
µ-Ziq to create a sound as magnificently simplistic as
it is groundbreakingly prescient.
Daevid Allen's University of Errors may not fall
under the electronic robot pop dichotomy, but it
hails from another genre of absurdist perspectives
and consciously spastic freak-outs -- psychedelia. Allen, as some
of you are hopefully aware, was a
founding member of both Prog/Art-Rock purveyors Soft
Machine and New York psychedelic wizards Gong; E2 X 10 =
tenure, his second album with backing band The
University of Errors (members of San Francisco psychedelic
band Mushroom), continues along the same incomprehensible path as previous projects.
The disc opens with "Iced Tea Overture", which assails the
listener with a cacophonous assault of guitars and
reverb, overlaying a monotonous beat that makes the
track listenable. It would fit well in a more
melodic take on the Sonic Youth SYR series. The first
taste of melody doesn't come until the fifth track.
"Olde Guitar Body O'Mine" is the album's high-point,
into which the band weaves a meandering three minute guitar solo without
once seeming gaudy or obtuse.
The rest of the album progresses in a similar style: the improvisational space-rock
undertone and disjointed lyrics fade in and out of
dizzying atonal brilliance, mortifyingly inane dirges and
plain old pretentious shit.
Whatever your opinion of E2 X 10 = tenure,
most will agree that it falls into a genre not
exactly known for its accessibility. The fact that records
exactly like this one have been made and remade by
countless bands over the last 35 years doesn't diminish its
propensity for visionary flourishes on a par with Soft Machine's most esoteric efforts.
While the trip from track one to track nine is a difficult
journey to make in one sitting, E2 X 10 = tenure
works actively -- even aggressively -- against boredom and
blandness. Give it time, and it will reward you with some of the most interesting songs of
the year...though whether that year is 1967 or 2001, I'm not certain...
