Review by Ned Raggett
Turning away from the full-band work on immediately previous releases to a solo-plus-guest performers format, Byrne on Pt. 1 comes up with a fine, varied collection of mostly instrumental tracks that range from off-kilter oddness to skeletal acoustic sketches. In general, though, things are definitely much more on the arty side of things here, but in a very playful sense, with dub being the key thread recurring the entire way. This isn't On-U Sound style crushing (aside perhaps from the heavy beats on "Goodbye") or endless homages to Lee Perry, but a sense of shadowy echo and play that sounds more sweetly giddy than anything else. "Winky's Wild Ride (The Quest)" is perfectly representative, with a quirky keyboard line running through the varied percussion rhythms and a quick, fine electric guitar part from erstwhile bandmate Bell adding in at points. In perhaps the ultimate "location determines the song" effort, "Grand Canyon" was actually recorded at said natural monument, but otherwise everything appears to have been a home effort from Byrne, playing just about everything throughout. When Byrne puts together the more straightforward song side of his personality with the shadowy experimental side, the results work more often than not. "Flowers Smile" would just be a nice enough voice and guitar piece, Byrne's voice the clearest thing in the mix, were it not for the echoing bits of percussion and keyboard, low-level hum, and softly addictive clarinet (or so it sounds). The various side appearances from Bell, Yu, and others all go over well; at times, the specific instrument played can be quite amusing, such as Tiffany Scott's performance on "the door" for "Vacancy." Touches of deep shoegaze-style moodiness crop up at points, as on "Ghosts Vow," but Pt. 1 generally operates in its own particular world, and all the better for it.
|
