Seemingly for the past 4 years, Tim Furnish locked himself away somewhere in
Kentucky and worked on music. While he periodically showed up on random releases
over the years (including Quasi-Objects by Matmos), his time was apparently
spent incubating lots of musical ideas, the first of which flowed out on the
recent Octopus Off Broadway release, and now with this full-length
follow-up only months later.
Being an internet geek, I was first inclined to think of the prominent world wide web search engine when I first heard the name of the release, but in actuality it's a reference to those cute little 'googly' eyes that have provided sight for many a stuffed-animal or fuzzy stick-on critter, as well as decoration for high-school book-covers, trapper-keepers, and even hats and accessories of slightly wacky individuals. In my review of the aforementioned Octopus Off Broadway, I used the word 'hypnotic' several times to describe the music, and if that was the case with that release, Googler is the release where Furnish brings the rock. Granted, it's still not at bang-your-head levels by any means, but drums are banged on with a new sense of urgency, and the release gets downright gritty in places.
Once again, the tracks take their time in developing, and while this release isn't quite as long as the previous, it still stretches 6 different pieces to over 40 minutes. "Jololinine" starts things off with a bang as some distorted drums clang about and some nice guitar and keyboard interplay come in over a juicy bass lowend. "Distractor" takes things a step further, hurtling out of the gates with a speedy snare roll before some meaty guitars and bass give the track a nice rhythm backing over which some melodic guitar melodies play out. It's easily the most rock-sounding track that the 'group' has done thus far, and that sort of trend continues on "Over The Under" and "Regulkfro Reel," while at the same time the tracks weave in more atmospheric elements to move into a completely new area for the group (which sounds something like a completely beefed-up older brother to their last release). The latter track builds into a particularly nice frenzy before dropping off into a lovely ambient closing section, which feels particularly right after the steady build of the previous tracks.
Following right up on the heels of that track is the nearly 10-minute "Hop Pife," a track that continues the ambient feel keyboard sounds that recall light bouncing through a faceted prism. Coupled with a low-end wash (and a rising bit of haunting tension near the latter third), it's continues the quiet break before the completely-different closing track. "Svrendikditement" bangs with heavily distorted percussive elements while light keyboard melodies play out over the top in a track that again takes the group in a completely different direction (almost completely electronic), sounding like something that could have come off the Warp Records roster circa 1995. It's yet another wrinkle in the highly-varied album (which runs from Slint-like to downright Aphex Twin-ish) from Furnish, who now seems to be fully back-in-action with two releases after a long hiatus. If you enjoyed the last album, you might find this one a bit hodge-podge, but it will definitely get your toes tapping. * review also found here.
1. http://www.almostcool.org/
2. file://localhost/home/u4/tinymixtapes2/html/musicreviews/musicreviews.htm
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