Thursday, 29. June 2006, 04:34:52
Tracklist
01 - Phasors on Stun — 3:49
02 - One O'Clock Tomorrow — 6:05
03 - Hours — 2:36
04 - Journey — 4:41
05 - Dialing for Dharma — 3:15
06 - Slaughter in Robot Village — 5:02
07 - Aldebaran — 5:02
08 - Black Noise — 9:56
Ripped from vinyl promo copy @ 320
Also includes tracklisting, reviews and album artwork
B L A C K N O I S EPassword: bassoprofundo
REVIEWS (from various sources):
The least well known of the major Canadian progressive rock groups (including Rush, Saga and Klaatu), FM produced a classic in Black Noise comparable in quality to any work by any of those other, more successful bands. FM's recipe for success consisted of tight playing on a wide variety on conventional and unconventional instruments, sparse but compelling vocals and a knack for great melodies.
FM consisted of a trio of musicians: Cameron Hawkins on lead vocals, bass guitar and synthesizer, Martin Deller on drums and Nash the Slash on electric violins and mandolin. In addition, each musician plays other instruments throughout the work, which can give you an idea of the level of chops that these fellows had. The result is a varied and lush sound that carries the instrumentals as easily as the vocal-orientated pieces. Hawkins' synthesizer is simply magnificent as he generates the spacey-sounding accompaniment to his (primarily) science fiction lyrics. Hawkins' lyrics may turn off some listeners at first, as three of the eight songs ("One O'Clock Tomorrow," "Journey," "Aldebaran") deal with intergalactic travel and several others touch upon related fantastic themes.
Notable tracks on Black Noise include: "Slaughter in Robot Village," a wonderful percussion-orientated instrumental that tells the story behind it as easily as any lyrics would "Black Noise," the mini-epic of the album and, in my opinion, is the only piece that goes on too long; "Phasors on Stun," the rocking opening track (despite its title, this last piece has nothing to do with Star Trek). Another interesting piece is "One O'Clock Tomorrow," which changes at the three-minute mark into a remarkable Beach Boys pastiche.
If you enjoy more rock-orientated progressive music and can tolerate some science fiction in your songs, I'd definitely recommend this one. FM seem to have struck a fine balance between experimentation and good old rock and roll here, creating a minor classic along the way.
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Black Noise was the first album by Canadian trio FM. The band lineup here featured Cameron Hawkins on keys and vocals, Martin Deller on drums and Nash the Slash on violin and mandolin. The music is generally in the accessible vein, rhythmically conventional and consonant. The album gets some non-standard rock tones, however, from the use of violin and mandolin instead of a guitar (there is a little bit of bass here and there, played by Hawkins, but it's almost not noticeable).
The lyrics are kind of campy, mostly dealing with futuristic and utopian themes. This overall space-ace feel is enhanced by the absolute crystal-clean production of the CD (mine is the Canadian CBC issue), one case where this approach really works.
There are eight tunes here, and they are mostly on the short side. Those tracks featuring vocals are often fairly poppy in nature, with some pretty vocal harmonies. Nash the Slash gets some vocal credits, but I suspect many of the harmonies are actually Hawkins multi-tracked. Hawkins' voice is pleasant and clear, soft but not wimpy. There are some instrumentals that get busier and approach fusion territory in parts thanks to the violin work, although that superficial space vibe is omnipresent. Finally there is the requisite "epic prog" track, the ten-minute title track at the end. Although featuring a somewhat anti-climatic ending, it generally delivers the goods.
In all, this is not a very challenging album, but it is a pleasant listen safe in the symphonic camp and would certainly be appreciated by fans in that sphere.
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FM was a trio hailing as part of the low-key Canadian prog scene of the 70s, out of which only Rush managed to garner high-profile success. Today, Black Noise can best be viewed as both a strong torch carrying the fading embers of late-decade prog and as a presage of the early new wave that would explode a few years away in the beginning years of the 80s decade. What's interesting is the various echoes of other bands one can hear in Black Noise; and yet, FM does not sound like a reproduction of any of them. Particularly, I hear a lot of Yes circa Drama and 90125. "Phasors on Stun" and "One O'Clock Tomorrow" sound very much like something Chris Squire would write and vocalist Cameron Hawkins at times sounds like Trevor Horn. Also, "Journey" sounds like an upbeat Trevor Rabin number. The instrumentals penned by Martin Deller, whose drumming style reminds me of Andy Ward of Camel, are perhaps the most full-fledged prog offerings on the album. Other bands you might hear traces of as you listen: U.K. (the band they most resemble instrumentally), Klaatu, and Rush. Anyway, this is a very enjoyable album, striking just the right blend between prog and the accessible (and soon dominant) pop of the era, with the emphasis shifting depending on the song in question.
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Black Noise (1978) was their first album, and -- from the few sources which I've managed to find on the band -- is generally regarded as one of their brighter moments. The music on this release is good without being terribly spectacular, interesting without being terribly innovative, and musically competent without being a technological marvel. Quite derivative of the "cosmic" themes favoured by other bands of this type (one wonders if they hobnobbed with Klaatu in Yonge St. cafes), this is nevertheless a reasonably enjoyable progressive rock venture. While the album is by no means essential, progressive fans wishing to seek out different aspects of the North American scene could certainly do much, much worse.
The album begins with "Phasors On Stun", cited by some sources as the group's most famous track. This work is most obviously notable for its use of synthesizers in creating a space-rock ethos (the lead riff for this song sounds remarkably like Marillion, even though they didn't form for another year!), though the lead-off mandolin riff has a certain anthemic quality as well. Cameron Hawkins's vocals are decent enough (though poorly mixed), and a solo in mid-song (presumably Nash) fits the setting fairly well. The track may be a bit too "cosmic for cosmic's sake", but its enjoyable enough on its own terms.
"One O'Clock Tomorrow" tells the story of a heroic space journey, with more electronic wizardry from Hawkins and NtS. There is a somewhat unfortunate Lindsey Buckingham-esque quality in the vocals, and the constant reliance on space themes may irritate some listeners ... still, there is some decent music here. A Howe-esque (or is it Starcastle- esque?) solo appears in mid-song, prior to Hawkins's synthesizer feature.
"Hours" is a brief instrumental track, featuring (i) a good drum performance by Martin Deller and, (ii) a violin solo by NtS which suggests the prog-pop directions later developed by Ultravox. Perhaps it's a shame that this track didn't run a bit longer.
The very presence of a song entitled "Journey" on an album of this sort might be enough to terrify some readers. As it stands, the song is a relative weak link on the album -- treading the same themes as the first two vocal numbers, and, despite a good violin solo, not really cohering together as well as it could. It's inoffensive, but marred by a fairly predictable vocal section.
The album's second instrumental track, "Dialing For Dharma", begins in an unduly "safe" fashion (the phrase "Alan Parsons with better drumming" might spring to mind), giving the impression of poorly allocated musical talents. Thankfully, NtS's violin solo eventually develops into a decent progressive melody (vaguely similar to "Peaches En Regalia", in a sense), and achieves a state of instrumental grandeur by the track's conclusion.
"Slaughter In Robot Village" begins with spaceship-esque synthesizer tricks (could this be Deller?), which bear an odd similarity to a certain Synergy track of a similar title ("Slaughter On Tenth Avenue", to be specific). The band section which follows easily qualifies as one of the more "proggy" things on the release -- Hawkins's bass effects work fairly well, and NtS once again provides a good lead section. Perhaps Martin Deller was a more important figure to the band than most enthusiasts have realized.
"Aldeberan" features a return of the mandolin effect used on "PoS", and is otherwise dominated by thick synthesized chords. There is a certain "pop ballad" ethos lurking in the background of this track, though the trio manages to infuse enough musicianship into the track to keep things relatively interesting. Perhaps not surprisingly, the instrumental section is a highlight.
"Black Noise" qualifies as the "epic" track of the album. This ten- minute number begins with a fairly atmospheric setting (drums playing over a "windswept" keyboard feature), and subsequently develops as the best- arranged "vocal" track on the album. Hawkins's voice works better here than elsewhere (though the strain still shows at times ...); the instrumental middle section features a good use of electronics (and a violin "lament" that somehow manages to be flashy in a melancholy setting). It's a fairly predictable manner of ending the album, but it's still a decent piece of music.
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