Gravanzia - "Room 314 Sessions Volume III"
(self-released 2004, 00314)
Gravanzia - "Room 314 Sessions Volume III"
(self-released 2004, 00314)
From Aural Innovations #30 (February 2005)
More electronic experimentation and improvised invocations of gnostic anarchy. I thought this was an Italian band but it's Caroline Vile from London. THE SICK ANTHEM: Frantic droning, metallic voice "Arise, Arise"?? Sticker on the contact sheet says "The Empire Never Ended". Hey these English kids are payin' attention unlike Americans who can't wake from the nightmare or who are proud to be ignorant. Goes into groovey, spacey spoken word... some chipmunk vocals... cool CD artwork, again looks very Italian. DAS GOOD LICHEN SCHLITT!: Vocals sound remarkably like the singer fromThe West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, uptempo rocker. Is this funny? GRAVAMANCER: "Coolrock" with tormented wailing, reminds me of the "Pop Group". MANBOW SPELLS DANGER: What to call this kind of music? Rockin experimental goth industrial....? Nice soaring experimental pretty uplifting, rise robots rise. MISSHAPEN PLAYED DEMON: Dog growlin, spoken German?, carnival organ playing in your nightmare... BEHIND THE ICE DOOR: Creaky door opens into new agey riffs... this CD sounds much more interesting second time through. SPELL GRAVANCIA: Krautrock drums, these guys sound much more German than English? This reminds me of Deutsch Nepal by Amon Düül II, also recalls the Neu hypnobeat. G - GIVEN CHANNELS: Spacerock, Hawkwindish deep space... more spoken word, piano tinklin, nice production. SWEET GRAVITY: Atmospheric, quiet, relaxing... very nice, female vocal sampled or keyboard? AUT GRAV. THE 3RD: Industrial uptempo drum machine, assorted racket, effected mixed down vocal. Another "in a bad dream" song. THE PINK LIGHT: Isn't that from a Philip K. Dick novel? The last song, more Gravanzia layered strangeness. Hey this is a really cool, hard to categorize, original CD, and that's a good thing...
For more information you can visit the Gravanzia web site at: http://www.gravanzia.com.
Email at: oddball553@blueyonder.co.uk.
Reviewed by Carlton Crutcher