Escalade - X's &; O's

Our review
Customer reviews
Press release

4...according to our Ant on Thu 22 Nov, 2007.

The first release on Cuckundoo Records (not strictly true but according to the catalogue number) is by Escalade AKA Tokyo based artist Greg Sullivan. 'X's & O's' immediately reminds me of Hood. Phil reckons there's a bit of Pinback in there too. His vocal delivery especially makes me think of Chris Adams. It's a gently, breezy track with fairly simple but quirky percussion, warm strings and dreamy guitars. 'Pleasure Treasure' On the flip makes cool use of piano and horns and is comparable at times with the Stereolab's jazzier moments, again with he Hood style vocal. This one was was mixed by John McEntire.

THE LABEL THAT IS BRINGING THE MIGHTY VESSELS TO THE PUBLIC RELEASES THIS HOT 7" MIXED BY JOHN MCENTIRE (WHO IS ALSO GOING TO BE DOING THE FORTHCOMING ALBUM) AND MEMBERS OF WILCO! THE TERM 'ESCALADE' REFERS TO OVERCOMING THE OBSTACLES LYING IN ONE'S PATH; ORIGINATING FROM THE FRENCH FOR 'ROCK-CLIMBING'. SONGS UNFOLD INTO PUZZLE-LIKE COMPOSITIONS, WINDING UP A SPIRAL STAIRCASE TOWARDS INFINITY. ESCALADE (AKA GREG SULLIVAN) IS A PROJECT BASED IN TOKYO, JAPAN. ORIGINALLY FROM NEW YORK, SULLIVAN EMBARKED ON A SELF-IMPOSED EXILE TO NEW ZEALAND, AND HAS CURRENTLY BEEN GAINING MOMENTUM WITHIN THE LIVE SCENE OF JAPAN'S CAPITAL. BECOMING A FORM OF AUDIO TRAVEL-DIARY, FOUR YEARS OF IDEAS STARTED TO ACCUMULATE AND EVOLVE, AGAINST A CHANGING BACKDROP OF COUNTLESS TOWNS. IMAGES OF THE EXPANSIVE NATURAL WONDERS, WHICH SURROUNDED THE LONG PRODUCTION PROCESS, SEEM TO HAVE BEEN SOAKED LUCIDLY INTO THE FABRIC OF THE MUSIC. THE SONG-STRUCTURES SWERVE AND AVOID REPETITION, INSTEAD SEEMING TO BRING THE LISTENER THROUGH A COMMITTED PASSAGE TO PREVIOUSLY UN-FORESHADOWED DESTINATIONS. GUITARS ARE WOVEN INTRICATELY, INTO PATTERNS THAT CONNECT THE DOTS BETWEEN POINTS OF REFERENCE WITHIN EACH CONTRASTING SONG. THE RESULTING MIX OF SPINDLY, DRONING AND ANGULAR CHORD PROGRESSIONS LEAVE THE JAZZ-POP HARMONIES TWISTED IN A DAYDREAM-LIKE HAZE. WORKING FROM A BROAD RANGE OF INFLUENCES, ESCALADE'S SYNTHESIS OF A WOULD-BE GROUP SOUND; PLAYED MOSTLY ALONE, AND A SELF-PRODUCED POCKET-SYMPHONY AESTHETIC, HOLDS IN REGARD EQUALLY THE INFLUENCES OF OLD AND THE TIMELESSNESS OF THE NEW. WITH A BACKGROUND IN STUDIO ENGINEERING, THE ELEMENT OF SOUND DESIGN ALSO PLAYS A LARGE PART IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF EACH OF THE SONGS. THE RESULTING SOUND RESEMBLES AN EXQUISITE TRAGEDY, LIKE THE SLOW-MOTION STACCATI OF A CRYSTAL CHANDELIER FALLING TO THE FLOOR, NOT WHOLLY DISSIMILAR TO TELEVISION, THE EARLY 90S CHICAGO SOUND OR DAYDREAM NATION-ERA SONIC YOUTH.

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