Album Review: Geoff Soule

Geoff Soule -'A Dialogue Between Feminine Wisdom And Masculine Uncertainty.' (Supermegacorporation)

Geoff Soule, the (probably)self-proclaimed CEO of Supermegacorporation is best known as a member of San Francisco pop-darlings Fuck (follow the link if you don't want to google the band). Surprisingly, I once heard the band on the radio. Unsurprisingly, it was on John Peel.

This album is lo-fi in extremis, and all the better for it. Like many of the best albums, it grows on you. On the first play, this minimalist, improv-featuring record is hard to get into. I thought this was heading for a rather blunt review. But on repeated plays (I played this three times in one day), I became so intrigued that it started to make sense, and reveal it's secrets. This is a rather beautiful album that pulls you in bit by bit. Titles like 'Improv no.9' and 'A dirge' may seem guaranteed to put off people - more fool them. Minimalism and Improv may scare some people, but - and I mean this as a compliment, this is a really god place to start for people who want to investigate more adventurous recordings out there. This writing from the website sums it up:

" A Wild Man has clambered down out of the Swiss alps and made his way across the Italian border. He is without language. Something formless wandering over the structures of civilization. A living breathing phantom. The various conversations, musics and babblings he hears stick to him as metal shavings to a magnet. He hops a cargo ship to Mexico and hides out in broad, bright daylight. He forms alliances, follows trade routes, makes observances. Late nights as he nods off there is the mental jibberjaw taking place between the measured and the unknown. This record was made to fall asleep to."

Will this storm the charts? As it's released in a limited edition of 500, probably not in the UK. But this serves as a reminder that below the radar is where the most adventurous, genuinely alternative and most rewarding music is being made.

****

Try these for size:

Geoff Soule - 'Jolly Times.' mp3

Geoff Soule - 'San Diego Winter.' mp3

A Dialogue Between Feminine Wisdom And Masculine Uncertainty is released on August 18 on Supermegacorporation. It is also available now on iTunes.