Crashing Icons

Absolute Zero | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 18, 2003)
• Original Release Date: November 18, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: ReR
• ASIN: B0000W6A5C
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #449,648 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Bared Cross

2. Further On

3. Stutter Rock/You Said

4. Suenos Sobre Un Espejo

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars True artists are not easy to cage in., December 9, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Crashing Icons (Audio CD)

An Absolute masterwork:
On the big scale, Art History teaches us how evolution in artistic terms is propelled from small circles of vilified artists offering often neglected products, to mass generalization of their new viewpoint. During this process, of course, many of the new proposals will be forgotten, but on the whole, this new approach will be accepted, because basically it reflects a more suitable vision of the world for that time being. Last century brought in a new factor in this evolution, which is the transformation of art in a marketed business, and the extended use of art/media as the near-perfect tool for control and guidance of the people's trends and even moral values, which have turned the romantic approach to art as a liberating tool into a commonly accepted alienating experience. But true artists are not easy to cage in, so sometimes we are thrilled to discover brilliance trying to wake up from the matrix and share with us their iluminating experience.
In contemporay musical terms (and of course taking into consideration all classical revolutions -dodecafonism, bruitism, serialization, microtonal or polyrythmic composition, jazz and free jazz, etc) and regarding popular music, this was attempted during the late sixties when some musicians broke all rules present at that age and started composing songs which avoided the common formula (3 minutes, love theme lyrics in the English idiom, repetitive verse-chorus structure etc) in such a way that -later- they were called progressive. Of course, after a while. it degenerated as well into another formulaic overused scheme, and again artists, aware of all that, tried to break the carcass so the substance could be delivered.
One of them is Chris Cutler, a truly original drummer who had played with the canterburian band Henry Cow and many other multitalented combos. He eventually set in motion the Rock In Opposition movement with the intention of creating a friendly entourage for musicians with a non-compromising creative itch.
Rock In Opposition (RiO) is just the negative of New Age. When new Age tries to put you to sleep, RiO will shake your neurons in the same way as The Catcher In The Rye could relate to Harry Potter's stories. Bands in the RiO school will never be high in any top list because it is not music to please your senses (even if you can find in it many uttermost sublime experiences of pure beauty) Bands like Henry Cow, Etron Fou, Samla's, Univers Zero, Miriodor, 5UU's, Forever Einstein, Sotos, Rascal Reporters are in my opinion true treasures because with the freedom they show in their work they prove to us all that -still- there are some spaces where that freedom can exist and be shared, which is basically to give us all some relieving hope when facing the actual music scene.
So there is Absolute Zero, a trio of unhumanly skilled musicians who have been one way or another fighting the beast for 20 years (and the beast is all that prevented them from releasing their first album earlier) It is a real pleasure for me to be able to show my admiration to Enrique Jardines (you have not heard a bass like this) Aislinn Quinn (keyboards, vocals) and the formidable Pip Pyle (of Canterbury fame) for what they have accomplished on this album. To describe the music here is as difficult as reviewing Jorge Luis Borges books, the simple reason being that everything is there. Four long tracks make the cd, and the only non-misleading hint I can give you is the topic Chaos under Control. Power and beauty. Thunderous zeulish bass, voice used as an instrument, themes ever changing, electronic bits with intention. Grotesque and fantastic constructions substitute each other along mind-blowing, full of unexpected beatings and breaks, often atonal drumming by the truly amazing Pip Pyle. Enrique's bass guitar is one of the two most diversely changing instruments on "Crashing Icons" along with Aislinn's vocals. Many times you won't even think it is a bass, and it makes me think Robert Fripp should hire him for KC, being his 6-stringed instrument much better and creatively different that the (Chapman) Stick.
Music here is strong, powerful, beautiful and liberating. I just can't recommend this record enough. If you are interested in Rock or Jazz, Electronic, Progressive, or just in good music let this wonderful crystallization of talent, creativity and freedom cheer your soul.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Musica Sin Cadenas, December 14, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Crashing Icons (Audio CD)

Un progresivo directo sin tapujos con la excentricidad y la viveza de la fusión como hermanos entre el Jazz y el progresivo. Temas que no esperan que nos agraden, nos empapan con un movimiento que no es sutil  si no agresivo y disonante, que pocos se atreven atravesar, sin máscaras. Su música es desnuda en cada sonido que nos envuelve sin querer venderse sino sólo el expresar de un músico como única expresión valida. De antemano los felicito por romper esquemas, como simplemente lo realiza un músico, en palabras de Robert Fripp, un músico que es un músico sin tener que tener un compromiso al volverse un músico profesional. Esto es música sin cadenas
Mundo Rock

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Music is a Revolution, December 13, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Crashing Icons (Audio CD)

According to Absolute Zero, 'Music is a Revolution', and the band has sought to champion the cause of forward thinking ideas and sounds through their unique brand of controlled mayhem. While sharing similar ideals with the original Rock in Opposition movement, Absolute Zero's music stands as a reactionary force to the overwhelmingly stagnant state of most music today. Drawing from a pool of influences, the band combines the complexity of 20th Century Classical music composition and improvisational freedom of Jazz without losing sight of the radical elements born from the birth of rock and roll. Imagine the dissonance of Henry Cow filtered through a postmodern aggressiveness.

Repetitive and distorted bass lines and forceful percussion (courtesy of Canterbury legend Pip Pyle, who you've never heard like this before) underscore an almost Koenji Hyakkei-esque Zeuhl element at times, while abstract vocal and keyboard melodies dance through dissonant passages, providing a lighter balance to the overpowering rhythmic force. A unique use of modern technology, sounds are processed to biting, industrial timbres that accentuate the immediacy of the music, with the occasional blast of trumpet and tinny, spiky digital keys. The extended length of the songs is the perfect breeding ground for the dark and foreboding passages that slowly simmer and explode, bent on exploring a new direction.

Absolute Zero's uncompromising vision has unfortunately never allowed the release of their music to come to complete fruition. Nearly ten years in the making, Crashing Icons is a triumph of individual thinking and free spirit yearning for a chance of free expression, and this artistic tension shines through the music.