Kill The Self That Wants To Kill Yourself

Chronique

The debut of this particular solo project -- in this case of Zs member Sam Hillmer -- appears on first blush to be aiming at disruptiveness more than anything else. Yet even with an album title and a band name like these, it might be either perfectly appropriate or utterly baffling that the opening tones on the title track consist of a soft, echoed synth fanfare that seems taken from Alphaville circa "Forever Young" -- only appropriate for 21st century Brooklyn, perhaps. But when the screeching saxophone parts of Hillmer start raking in on the song, things get a little more unsettled; if it's not quite either Albert Ayler or no wave, it's still something at least a little out of the ordinary (though the seeming Close Encounters of the Third Kind quote at the end is perhaps too precious -- not to mention the later song title "Confusion Wisdom"). It's a hallmark of the album, as Hillmer's performances throughout are about exploring rougher limits of the instrument first and foremost. Far from the opening cut setting a specific tone, though, the album then pursues a variety of different approaches where Hillmer's key work is central but texturing generally shifts, from downright cheery acoustic guitar sprightliness on "Transference Trance" and skittery early drum machine beats on "Adamantine" to general murkiness on "Defile the Style." The combination of echo, stretched-out drone, and distance in a song like "Three Things" can almost be a tribute to a style and perception as much as anything else -- not quite '70s loft culture in jazz but an after-echo of same -- but it serves as an engaging one, something that has found its own place in listening and acceptance.

© Ned Raggett /TiVo