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Border Radio review on Jersey Beat // The Quinlan Chronicles

Blake/e/e/e, along with having a confusing name, also has a highly varied musical personality on Border Radio. The disc begins with "Holy Dub", and it is what one would expect: a bouncy, rhythmic dub track. This is easy enough, but that is where the simplicity ends. "New Millennium's" is gorgeous in its delivery. This lush, sprawling track introduced a subtlety into the record before changing gears to the straight forward "lack of Self-Explanation". This track drones, rises, fades away, and then returns with another droning riff. The remnants of this song slide into the Beach Boys-inspired "narrow Zone". Psychedelic and fun, this track was my early favorite until I heard the next song, "Time Machine". This could have been the title track for this disc, as Blake/e/e/e is a throwback of a band that refuses to surrender to what is dominating radio and pop culture to generate music that is wholly original. The throbbing bass, strange, ethereal vocals and hypnotic rhythm of "Time Machine" made it my favorite of the record. From this point forward, Blake/e/e/e revisits a series of ideas: "Holy, Yes to the Sunny Days" and "Saint Lawrence Tears" both revolve around pseudo-country riffs and twangy, folk-inspired playing. Additionally, "Dub-Human-is" resurrects a similar idea from the opening song. This particular song seemed to move slowly out of the blocks, filling the listener with a sense of uncertainty. However, the song is allowed to take its' time, as the track lingers for ten minutes! The title track "Border Radio" and "The Thing's Hollow" are nearly tribal in their energy, with the latter featuring magnificent female vocals and lyrics about stars, space, and a lack of gravity. This disc may be the soundtrack to a bizarre hallucination, and it is truly for a select audience.

Rich Quinlan

Art Of The Mix [live review]


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