VALINA
Epode EP
CD on 54°40’ or Fight!, picture disc on Trost
Epode is the best record Valina have ever
released. I was at a complete loss on how to start this review. So many
thoughts and sentences flying throuh my head, which all lead up to this
simple conclusion, that I decided to start the review with. Because it is
true. Even if there are only five songs on it. What the heck, all five of
them are killers. That’s more than I heard on the records of all those hip
young bands that appear on the covers of all those glossy magazines I never
read. I have always been a fan of reduction and densifying things so that
only the best and the most essential remain. Okay, so looseness might also
have its point at times (like a 35-minute song by Acid Mothers Temple or a
John Coltrane improvisation) but if you need a quick infusion of energy, you
don’t want to wait, right? Within this density Valina also convey an
urgeness that is carrying away the listener with it. “I owe you a story”
are the first words to be heard on this record and tell you their story they
will. If you open your ears for real, you might hear also hear it. Even in
the unique “81 men without memory” this urge to communicate remains.
Valina have taken a big step
musically on here. Or rather, this record shows the big progress they made
musically since the last record, because their transgressions are a steady
process, but we – listeners and writers alike – only see little slices
of this, e.g. shows, interviews and records. They have always been a slow
band to write and record, but their musical progress has been a steady one
for a long time. If I find time and the right box, I’ll pull out their
first seven inch single for comparison. I guess their vision of
structurality was there already back in the days of playing the Arena Beisl
together with Bulbul.
Most interstingly these two bands always form a strange connection in my
mind, though both have evolved very differently and almost opposite in
direction from back then. For instance, Valina and improvisation are pretty
far from each other. But they always managed to deliver their
“math”-rock (some of their chords and riffs were culled straight from
Albini’s workbook) with a high dose of warmth, kindness and intimacy.
Also, Valina is a kind of serious band; a band that contemplates a big deal
about what it does and what it won’t do. They don’t leave a lot of room
for hunches or gut feelings. Fortunately, as I’ve hinted at, they know how
important it is to include emotions and feeling into their music – even if
its birth-process is not a direct one.
This record also contains a
version of the great “Escort of Soda” with its multipart-structure, a
capella intro, screams (human and saxophone), beautiful harmony and
danceable groove, the mellow part inbetween and so on. I have written a
praisal of this song when it was released on the split-7” with
Sicbay (labemates at 54° 40' or Fight!). Most obviously their
progress at songwriting (or would song-building be a better word for the
process) is shown with “81 men without memory”. Acoustic guitars, soft
and mellow atmosphere building up into a wonderful harmonic verseline plus a
full stringsection at work in the back. Is it a ballad or is it not? The
intimacy inherent with the music of Valina is driven to completely new
hights with this song, but as the liner notes suggest, this should not be
taken directly. The last song on the record (on the CD version, the vinyl
only has four tracks) is nothing but a solo chello working itself up into a
great, structural piece that yearns from Erik Friedlander to John Parish and
evokes both the sentimentality as well as the energy hidden in the body of
this instrument. New instruments to open their musical range and
possibilities. Valina are working hard on finding new sounds and gestures
within their chosen elements. They don’t show off. They don’t have to.
Their music should speak for them.
The worst thing about this
record is chosing between formats. That Picture Disc sure looks good, but
the CD-version has one song more. The CD also sounds somewhat better (no
needle-scratch-noises) but the liner notes on the picture disc are funnier.
On the other hand the CD booklet has the lyrics to the songs, but not that
funny picture on the backside. CDs are easier to rip and copy, but a tape
copy shows style and attitude. Don’t make the type of music-equipment in
your care the remaining argument for the decision. Do it like me. Get both.
