Wackiness.org Reviews Archive § Music

Terrestrial Tones is the collaborative side project of Animal Collective's Avey Tare and Black Dice's Eric Copeland. Picturing an outlet for the two's creative efforts deemed too weird for either band can be kind of overwhelming, and in last year's Blasted, the Tones created probably more or less what you would imagine-- sprawling, arrhythmic electronic pieces, varying in length from 28 seconds to just over ten minutes, and sounding very much like wet caves; meanwhile, hinted at on tracks like "West Indian Day Parade" and the non-album piece "Face Mask" was a more interesting cluttered ambience based on field recordings and subtler electronic tweakings. Critics sneezed at Blasted, and its appeal lay mostly with die-hard fans; reception of the follow-up Oboroed/Circus Lives LP seems to be going better as it leaves the flustered rumbles and clicks behind, relying more or less entirely on field recordings and voice samples.

The half-hour A-side "Oboroed" slowly cycles through haunting beeps, processed laughter, and other disorienting and unplaceable sounds, and the B-side is a jarring compilation of high-gain circus noises, replete with merry-go-round loop and children's disjointed voices. The LP bears more of a resemblance to sedated Black Dice a la "Miles of Smiles" than anything else, but it's more subtle and refined, or at least like the same amount of raw material spread out over twice the playing time. It's a unique and compelling listen, and as long as you don't go in expecting Sung Tongs meets Beaches and Canyons, you'll do fine.

Rating

70/100

Reviewer

Noah Jackson

Published

October 02, 2005