Telescope Mind

Tussle | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 21, 2006)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Smalltown Supersound
• ASIN: B000JMKIW4
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #259,934 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Moving away from the dub-centricity of their debut album, San Francisco groove-mongers Tussle explore the Krautier side of instrumental rhythm rock on their second full-length outing Telescope Mind. And in referencing Krautrock we're talking specifically about the Motorik style, of the forward-rushing feeling of racing down the "Autobahn" with Kraftwerk or soaring the astral highways with Neu!. The Kraut influence is most apparent on the obviously titled "Kindermusik" which burbles along placidly on analog synth squiggles until the rhythm section shimmies in, sounding like what Cluster might have had they any booty-shaking tendencies at all (which they didn't) and the airiness of the keyboard passages conjures images of Neu! jamming with Bootsy Collins on bass. Overall this outing is somewhat more electronic sounding than their previous work -- while the two live drum kits are still organic and huge in the mix, the bass and other instruments are manipulated and effected to blend with keyboards and samplers, the better to blend the sounds so the ability to distinguish between organic and electronic becomes irrelevant. Yet Tussle also explores other angles than the always dancefloor-friendly material of their first album; there are flourishes of the avant-garde in more nonlinear tracks, like the abstract float of "Cloud Melodie," the brief glitch-fest of "The Story of Meteorites," or the ominous jungle war march of "Elephants." And tracks like "Trappings" and "Pow!" reference the downtown dance-punk of no-wavers like DNA and Liquid Liquid. But the familiarity of four-on-the-floor rockers like "Second Guessing" and hipshakers like "Flicker/33.3" will comfort fans of the space-disco Tussle they know and love. Rarely have indie rockers brought the boogie in such an all-embracing fashion, and if anyone could get stiff bespectacled arms-crossed music geeks to disco down, it's Tussle. ~ Brian Way, Rovi

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars seeing music with a telescopic mind (if you have a mind), January 15, 2007

By 

D. Hardono "dh" (Indonesia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Telescope Mind (Audio CD)

it seems the reviewer below doesn't know anything about Tussle. and maybe something worst, closed minded. it's not Tussle's mistake if your mainstream-stupid-mag called it tribal, 'coz for me it doesn't sound tribal at all (go listen OOIOO, Liars, or even Animal Collective if you want good-stuff-tribal-drum-sound). and don't judge too soon if you only have a little references.

Anyway, this album is one of my fav albums (and a must have) from 2006. After Andy Cabic left the band and become a full-time-hippie with his Vetiver project and team-mated Devendra Banhart's live band, Tussle's not dead. in this album their sound grows & improves even better. it's still less dubby and more spacious; the air that was clouded with reverb on their debut having been honed into a clear, sharp-edged rhythm instrument. it's kinda rare to find music so artsy & enjoyable at the same time like this. i agree with pitchfork who said their music can be described a bit like looking at a two-dimensional representation of a cube, as these two parallel realities, both equally valid, keep flipping back and forth in your perception. 2 drums, a bass and an electronica stuff played at their best sounds. sooo goood! really gooood!

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Telescope Mind(less), December 30, 2006

By 

S. Wheeling "Rhythm-Tech" (Sacramento) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Telescope Mind (Audio CD)

A review of this CD in "DRUM" magazine wrote it up as being an interesting Phat Bass & Tribal Drum soundscape. Not true! This is a total waste. The bass playing is so amateur I had to laugh and the so called Tribal Drum sound is in fact just 4/4 banging on very crappy sounding cheap drums. I played the whole thing twice through and tossed in the "I got took and will never play this crap again" bin.