Face Tat

About

Throughout his career, drummer Zach Hill has been especially prolific: in the sheer number of his collaborations (Hella, Marnie Stern, Prefuse 73, Wavve, etc.), in the size of his extended discography, and in the ferocious style with which he assaults his drum. All this constant action has understandably led to moments of both brilliance and self-indulgence. Hill's 2008 solo debut, Astrological Strait, was an impressive but exhausting affair, filled beyond the brim with non-stop, torrential drumming. On Face Tat, however, Hill puts as much focus on his oddball, malformed songs as on his world-class musicianship, resulting in an album that feels more compact, slightly less metallic, and altogether more fun. When you've recorded and toured with as many different musicians as Hill ha, you can assemble a pretty talented roster of guest. Face Tat features contributions from Devendra Banhart, Guillermo Scott Herren (Prefuse 73) and members of No Age, Hella, and Deerhoof. There's such a rotation of guest, in fact, that it hardly resembles a solo project at all. Yet each of these songs is shot through with Hill's distinctive personality and the restle, athletic agility of his drumming, forming a cohesive whole despite the music's frequent hairpin turns and switchback. About the last thing any Hill song would seem to need is more drum, but that is exactly what the opening "Memo to the Man" deliver, as Hill is joined on percussion by Deerhoof's Greg Saunier. Though that might conjure images of a drum clinic at Guitar Center, the track leaves a refreshingly light footprint by emphasizing its squiggly melodic instrumental hooks over what i, by any standard, some pretty fine drumming. Several other tracks here, such as the frantic "House of Hits" or "Burner in the Video", sport memorable but similarly off-kilter hook, alternately calling to mind the work of Liar, Battle, or vintage Brainiac. The album's slightly disorienting effect is due in part to its construction, which according to Hill began with sound sources that included smashing computer screen, street-level field recording, and peeing on a stack of Rolling Stone magazine. Though it would be tricky to pinpoint any of those exact sound, such techniques do help explain why so many sounds on Face Tat are difficult to identify. This is particularly the case on "Ex-Ravers" and "Jackers", two tracks that are such mosaics of disconnected noises and shifting perspectives that they can appear to get lost in their own haphazard circuitry. .

via Last.fm

The Clerk says

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