Customer Reviews

Utonian Automatic

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Proving wrong critics who dismissed them as watered down electric Miles, Isotope's second and finest album is one of a handful of examples of a successful and truly organic blend of jazz, rock and electronica, with elements of afro-latin and hip-hop (most of which come from the same circle of Chicago musicians).

Driven by the quirky compositional wits of Mazurek and Parker, Utonian Automatic melts its way from chaotic freak-outs into robotic elegies, always slightly understated.

More interesting than their solid debut, and far stronger than their under-developed third album, this remains the best example of their work.

Isotope 217 is always fun, buy all 4 of their albums. I think the cover is a woman lying down with her bush showing.

although this is definitely a good album, it doesn't seem to have the greatness that their previous album had, and the loss of the trombone may be much of the reason why. the more prevalent guitar, although very skillfully done, seems to limit much of what makes this band so great, the sublety that you have with their combination of percussion and keyboards. it is also a little bit more straight forward of an album than the previous one, and makes me think more of a turing machine kind of band than a tortoise kind of band (both of which are also absolutely brilliant). in short, buy the debut (the unstable molecule) first, listen to it for hours on end, feel yourself pick all the perfectly placed notes and quirky rhythms, and then buy this album and see how you feel about it. i think you will say that it is very good but not the first one.

U_A doesn't soar quite so much as the debut release, but it's got its own niche when compared to it. The trombone is absent from this release which has affected the sound. It is generally more upbeat and a little crazier on the rock-improv side of things, although it still has enough dynamics to go around.

After their splendid debut album (The Unstable Molecule), Isotope 217's sophomore effort offers an edgier approach to sound, where a certain sense of true 'rock' abandon prevails. Unfortunately, this provided less focused results, since their past (and definetely groundbreaking) sonic collages were eschewed in favour of rather pointless ventures into atonalism and assorted free-form assemblages. Granted, the percussion interplay is still brilliant and Rob Mazurek's cornet still shines throughout the album, but a recurrent feeling that something's lost along the way pervades. Nevertheless, Isotope 217 rises head and shoulders above the mundane crop of avant ensembles.

Don't get me wrong. This isn't terrible, but Isotope 217's The Unstable Molecule (their debut) is a far superior album. Where The Unstable Molecule is a smooth melding of funk and free jazz, this album bogs down in rock-isms and atonal freakouts.

I enjoy challenging music from time to time but this album just is a little much for what you get back as a listener. The sense of fun that pervades the band's previous work is conspicuously absent. Having seen the band on tours for both albums, it is clear to be that they are taking themselves more seriously now, and I'm afraid that this is the root of the problem with this album.

Perhaps the constant recording and collaboration that are the trademarks of the Thrill Jockey label are causing our heroes to lose a little perspective.