Patife Band
It was due to the unfortunate retro overkill of those years 2002-2004 that the words ‘post-punk’ and ‘no wave’ were beginning to strike fear and dread into my heart, not the music itself or the period or the aesthetic. That should go without saying, as it should that China and Nancy from Mars were really truly stylish as fuck, but sometimes it needs to be said again, just to remind yourself that reappropriation of the past can tamper with the present so much that your present apprecation of the past is forever despoiled.
There is the added factor that I can only listen to so much jerky bass and yelpy voices before I do a massive bored. That, I admit, is my own failing.
But!
I am loving this compilation very much tonight, partly because it suits my antsy bastard mood, but also because of the Patife Band, who put their money where their mouths are or some such cliche by being post post post post just about everything. What the fuck is with that bassline? Twelve-tone, is it? That’s what it says in the sleevenotes. I wouldn’t know, but there’s some weird scale action afoot for sure. The drums are insane, starting with a clatter and ’settling’(ha!) into a gallop, and the vocalist chants and never once yelps, and there’s a kind of guitar, synth and alto sax/clarinet all soloing at the same time (note: I might be wrong here) in the middle. And then there are RIFFS. Like proper ones. It’s all over in two minutes and six seconds and is quite simply the best piece of music I’ve heard in ages.
If anyone knows anything about this band - there’s not much in English about them on the web - then do let me know, because they are the multi-tasker’s friend and the caffeined-up editor’s dancing partner and I wanna salute them for that.
Posted on Monday, September 12th, 2005by Frances May Morgan
any time you want to throw together that guest-blog, wing it our way!
Posted by Sean on September 13th, 2005 at 9:17 am