Track Listing
1. Loom, The
2. Street Scene, A
3. Absent Friend
4. Big Shot
5. Fingerspit
6. Eyes & Smiles
7. Pendulum Man
| Details | | Playing Time: | 51 min. | | Producer: | Bark Psychosis | | Distributor: | Caroline Distribution | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
Bark Psychosis: Graham Sutton (vocals, guitar, melodica, piano, Hammond organ, samples, programming); Daniel Gish (piano, Hammond organ, keyboards); John Ling (bass, percussion, samples, programming); Mark Simnett (drums, percussion).
Additional personnel: Louisa Fuller, Rick Coster (violin); John Metcalfe (viola); Ivan McCready (cello); Phil Brown (flute); Del Crabtree (trumpet); Pete Beresford (vibraphone); Neil Aldridge (triangle, programming); Dave Ross (Djembe).
Engineers include: Nick Wollage, Mog, Mike Long.
Recorded from March to November 1993.
Of all the bands branded with the nebulous "post-rock" tag, England's Bark Psychosis achieved the rarest balance between group musicality and post-production programming. Recorded with a large ensemble of musicians but pieced together with a computer and a sampler, HEX is a seamless tapestry--a miraculous album that never forfeits its supernatural aura to the sterility of digital design. Graham Sutton and Daniel Gish elaborate on such timeless models as A.R. Kane's 69, The Blue Nile's A WALK ACROSS THE ROOFTOPS, and Talk Talk's LAUGHING STOCK, filling HEX's wide-screen canvas with emotional song-craft and technological refinement.
HEX favors the elegant and understated, presenting an extraordinarily filmic backdrop against which piano, guitar, and vocal phrases, wisps of instrumentation, and Mark Simnett's percussive cascades fall like December snow. The secret tensions that underscore Bark Psychosis' shimmering quiescence first manifest themselves in John Ling's sinuous, dub-modulated basslines, occasionally erupting in such rapturous displays of bittersweet beauty as "A Street Scene" and "Eyes & Smiles." Other breathtaking flourishes include ribbon-fine feedback, quenching showers of vibes, and Del Crabtree's electrifying, Miles-style trumpet. Alas, even Bark Psychosis couldn't top HEX. The group disbanded, with Sutton finding fame in the drum-and-bass arena as Boymerang.
Editorial Reviews
8 - Excellent - ...Bark Psychosis are nothing less than completely captivating....a thoroughly marvelous record....
NME (02/19/1994)
...HEX is the work of a band nourished by constant evolution and is unquestionably divine....a gorgeously intense 50 minutes...
Melody Maker (02/12/1994)
...too unpredictable, too unconcerned with current trends and, finally, just too good for most individuals...
Alternative Press (08/01/1994)
| See an error? Submit a change request |
All rights reserved.
