Promised Works - THE FOR CARNATION

Monday, July 16, 2007


Just in time for the reunited Slint's run of shows playing its seminal album "Spiderland" as part of ATP's Don't Look Back series comes this reissue of material from vocalist Brian McMahan's post-Slint concern. Compiling the group's two Matador releases from 1995 to 1996, "Promised Works" finds McMahan surrounded by collaborators like Slint guitarist David Pajo and Tortoise's John Herndon and Doug McCombs, all of whom seem intent on restraining the music as much as physically possible. There is hardly any of the tension and release that made Slint so explosive; instead McMahan murmurs his lyrics over skeletal song forms like the nearly eight-minute "Grace Beneath the Pines" and the barely audible "Winter Lair." When the band picks up the pace, there are some cool grooves to enjoy, like the creepy "I Wear the Gold" and the unexpectedly major-key "How I Beat the Devil." But for the most part, there's not enough happening here to demand the listener's attention. —Jonathan Cohen


source : www.billboard.com

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