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Body Meπa – Prayer in Dub
Review:
Across the surface, guitarists Sasha Frere-Jones and Grey McMurray weave febrile webs. Their interplay catches the ear immediately but it’s the kinetic rhythms laid down by bassist Melvin Gibbs and particularly drummer Greg Fox that really stick. The title of Body Meπa’s Prayer in Dub is something of a misdirection. Although elements of both are present in the often-meditative atmosphere, ample space, and grooves of the quartet’s second album. The four musicians here have deep histories in improvisation, art rock, jazz and contemporary classical music and fuse elements of those styles into instrumentals that recall bands like Mogwai and Slint more than say, the myriad dub fusions of Bill Laswell. The music emanates from an almost telepathic understanding between a group of peers with shared intuition and a generosity of spirit that allows structures to develop in cooperative and organic patterns. Even when they seem to be spiraling away on individual orbits there is a centrifugal logic that holds everything together. “Etel” opens on Fox’s double time snares as the guitars circle searching for a common thread. Beneath that Gibbs plays rich and smooth, a steady anchor for the explorations. The guitars fill the space between building slowly. The contrast with the drums’ tempo, a rein on a runaway horse. When the track approaches the halfway point, the rhythm section loosens, freeing the guitars to ascend into swathes of ecstatic atmospherics. Not precisely chaotic, more a determined feeling out, a testing the possibilities. What follows is a series of nuanced explorations of texture, mood, and tone. Body Meπa are experts at both concision and expansion. At 85 seconds the interlude “Welcome” passes in a swirl of cymbals and pensive electricity before segueing into the slow burn psyche influenced “Deborah” with its distorted guitar blistering over a bluesy rhythm which stutters along beneath. It’s the most overtly “rock” piece here but as it seems to collapse into itself, it feels like the despair of loss. The 16 minute plus “Scout” showcases the quartet’s ability to locate and embody essential truths. With the musicality of Fox’s drumming and the heft of Gibbs’ bass to the fore, McMurray and Frere-Jones patiently intensify their interplay. You feel the storm approach and it breaks upon you as emotional maelstrom and cathartic release, splendid in its power and cauterizing in its effect. An antidote for the times. — dusted
Track List:
01 - Etel
02 - Adnan
03 - Welcome
04 - Deborah
05 - Stones
06 - Scout
07 - Goodbye
Media Report:
Genre: post-rock, psychedelic rock
Origin: New York, New York, USA 
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)
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