2nd Incarnation
- Artist: Riververb
- Album released in 2006
- Self released
- Genres: Funk, Noise | Xprmntl, Rock
Songs:
1) 2 a.m. in the Dark
2) One and One
3) Panacea
4) Breath and/or Dice
5) Born Down
6) Whistling in the Dark
7) Bastard Children and the Unwilling
8) Triple Dog Dare
Only track 5, "Born Down," has intelligible lyrics...
something about being "dead in my tracks." The other songs are a collection of noises with a horror-movie motif. There are electric generator sounds, crackly electronic transmissions, and squeals that seem to be produced by placing instruments too close to amplifiers. The feel of the album is a post-apocalyptic landscape with malfunctioning communication devices.
Each song starts with a random firing of the noises that eventually resolves into a simple, loosely held rhythm. The vocals are huffing or screechy or filtered through so many effects as to sound distant and as though they are being broadcast from a failing CB radio. Only a couple songs feature what could be distinguished as guitar work through the squelch and interference. One track has a heart-rate-monitor beep, a respirator sound, and an eerie thumping against a barrel that all synchronize to become the beat.
Although they're not what I would describe as "songs," they're not bad. They seem to be professional sound effects for the latest crop of scary movies such as Saw II, The Hills Have Eyes, or Hostel.
Unless you own a goth downtempo lounge or you're setting up a haunted house for Halloween, I can't imagine you'd need this CD.
--- Hometown CD Review 10-26-06