Weird Biscuit Teatime - "DJDDAY"
(Voiceprint 2005, VP371CD)
Weird Biscuit Teatime - "DJDDAY"
(Voiceprint 2005, VP371CD)
From Aural Innovations #33 (March 2006)
There are very few rockers who've been making music since the 60's who remain as fresh, innovative and relevant as they were back then. Robert Fripp comes to mind as one of them. So does legendary Gong frontman Daevid Allen. And while Allen may not be quite the household name that Fripp is, he continues to be just as significant and groundbreaking in the field of space rock as he always was.
From project to project, the sound shifts and changes, as Daevid and whatever musicians he's assembled this time push the boundaries forward. The latest project, Weird Biscuit Teatime features Allen on guitar and vocals, and keyboardist Don Falcone, who amongst many other projects worked with Allen on two tracks on the Fireclan album. Seems working together agreed well with them as they got together with Michael Clare on bass and Trey Sabatelli on drums to record an entire album together. Former Melting Euphoria and Fireclan drummer Mychael Merrill also guests on one track.
The CD kicks off with the instrumental space rock of DJ Herbal Extract, with excellent spacey guitar from Daevid; some nice, dubby percussion; buzzing, rushing space synths and funky bass. Puts me in the right mood! But the rest is still a surprise, from the creepy, slithery Captain Beefheart-like Fashion Victim to the pure space ambience of Lavender. And that's only the first three tracks! Oh Dear is more typical Allen. It's spacey but with a good groove. Next come two of my favorite titled tracks on the album, Beezlebabble Slush and Technicolour Tongue. The former is almost industrial with its driving rhythm and weird, distorted vocals. The latter is a dubby trip with vocals that range from warped spoken word to a weird, world-music like chanting. The 8-minute long Cathode Cathedral is an ambient tour-de-force, with all sorts of slushy, swirling noise, throbbing bass, and spacey textures. Transhuman Future is some definitely freaky acid jazz with Daevid murmuring his fears of a cyberized world with a definite sense of humor. The song has some really odd heavy metal and prog rock breaks in it too. It's good stuff though! The album ends off with the prog rock and ambient symphonic textures of the instrumental This Could Be the End.
And all I can say to that is, let's hope it's not. This is a terrific album from some truly talented and creative players. Hopefully we'll hear more from this combo in the future.
For more information you can visit the Voiceprint web site at: http://www.voiceprint.co.uk.
Reviewed by Jeff Fitzgerald