Music

Average customer rating:

heya kids, science is fun!
Sounds totally hideous
Superstrings, Big Bang and the human voice
a modernist classical composer writing for rock band
Rock In Opposition... indeed!

A Mere Coincidence
The Science Group
Manufacturer: Recommended Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00003OSXW
Release Date: 1999-11-23

Tracks:

Mnemonic
Aleph Zero
Engineering
Lost In Translation
Chmera
Parity
Love
Open Or Closed?
Napoleon
.......In.....
...........Schroedinger's Box
Event Horizon
Lab Notes
Scale Invarians
There Must Be Something
Napoleon, In Schroedinger's Box

Customer Reviews:

heya kids, science is fun!.......2004-04-13

What makes classical music 'classical'? What makes rock music 'rock' (that's the noun, by the way)? The music of _A mere coincidence..._ is caught in a blurry, ambiguous sound of modern 20th century classical music in its melodic contour and harmonic structure, and rock music in its gutsy force and energy. It's ambiguously classical music for a rock band, or a rock band in the general music sphere of 20th century composers. With outside information, we know the answer is the former. Yugoslavian composer Steven Tickmayer composed this music for a rock lineup, guitars, bass, drums, piano & synths, and clarinet, with occasional electronics and violin. The music draws from myriad sources, however, but whatever influences they are, they are usually distorted by the band's oblique modernist-rock methodology. Tickmayer's compositional style is very complex and diverse, but all ideas are used expediently in service of good music. Amy Denio sings most of the songs, and Bob Drake sings a few. The vocals are quite catchy and quite a bit more melodic than the usual avant-rock vocal elements, with modal and octatonic ingredients to be found within. That said, the music is generally defies tonality. I guess the closest comparison I would draw is U Totem's first album, although here the songs are a little snappier. Art Bears/News from Babel influences are also evident, but I guess that should be taken for granted at this point. Drummer Chris Cutler provides lyrics based on, well, scientific stuff that I know nothing about. The production has a futuristic and austere yet multidimensional sound that fits music like this very well. This is rock music for hyper-intellectuals. While that means it's not for _me_, I love it anyway. And if you like this, check out _Spoors_, the Science Group's second cd. It's all instrumental and has Thinking Plague's Mike Johnson on guitar. At the time of this writing I just got it recently and I think it's just as good if not better than this. And kids: don't smoke crack.

Sounds totally hideous.......2003-09-09

Which is why it earns five stars right away. "A Mere Coincidence" has become one of my all time favourites and I listen to it often. Tickmeyer's compositions are some of the most complex and inventive I've ever heard. Yes, Linda, it may all sound like kids let loose on some musical instruments but appearances can be deceptive since the participants on this CD are some of the best (and least well known) musicians around. I'd hardly describe Chris Cutler's lyrics, for example, as kindergarden stuff, dealing as they do with esoteric aspects of Quantum Mechanics, Abstract Maths, Cosmology, Genetics and more. That's the other thing I really like about this - for once someone's deviated from the well beaten path of "important" subjects like birth, death, life, love, personal trauma etc. and given Science a crack of the whip for a change.

People that share Ms Petersen's musical tastes will be horrified to learn that the band has got another lined up for release (as of Sept. 2003). Can't wait.

Oh yeah, we're not even worthy...

Superstrings, Big Bang and the human voice.......2001-08-30

Everything taking place on this CD is the way it should be. I can't imagine a better interpretation in music form of the weird science going on in human culture. I'm sorry if Linda didn't really like it. It is cacophonous but that's the way the universe is.

a modernist classical composer writing for rock band.......2001-08-13

Literally. This was apparently Tickmayer's first composition for a rock band, which is pretty damn impressive, since the use of rock instruments sounds quite idiomatic. Well, as idiomatic as it can be, given that the music is pretty much atonal...

_A Mere Coincidence_ is on the more eclectic side of RIO, kind of like James Grigsby's compositions for U Totem -- it ventures into stylistic regions as distant from each other as Old West saloon music (filtered through a bunch of distortion in the middle of "Love"), techno (hiding somewhere in "Nothing Is Impossible" and "Open or Closed"), and something that can only be described as rhythmically irregular Irish rap ("...in..."). Tonally, it sounds a lot like recent Thinking Plague, except that it occasionally bursts into joyous moments of pure pop euphoria, like in "...Schrodinger's Box" and the end of "Chinera". The texture is heavily electronic and edited, which reminds me a bit of Biota's _Object Holder_. And despite these comparisons, I can't think of anything else that actually sounds like this. The compositions are mostly fairly short and somewhat fragmentary, usually high-energy but occasionally ("Engineering", parts of "Nothing Is Impossible", the opening of "Chimera") wandering into very low-intensity atmospheric regions, almost bordering on ambient. The two singers are very different: Bob Drake (5uu's, Thinking Plague) has a very distinctive and instantly recognizable voice, while Amy Denio (Danubians, Tone Dogs) is hard to describe -- less classical than Emily Hay or Sharon Bradford, more precise than Susanne Lewis, less flat than Deborah Perry, more...normal than Dagmar Krause... a very straightforward voice, actually. And Chris Cutler's lyrics, based on scientific concepts, are really cool. There's even a bonus track, which combines the lyrics of "...in..." with the music of "Napoleon...". Great stuff.

Rock In Opposition... indeed!.......2000-07-18

Anyone with a pair of ears will discover a new world of intensity with this amazing recording! Bob Drake, Chris Cutler Steve Tickmayer have crafted a major contribution to this world! Fred Frith is utterly brilliant here! Each listen defines a new room for interpretation. So much so that one walks away with the experience that you have only ruminated on the mere crumbs that is the giant cake that is "The Science Group!"

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Kyberia: Navigations

Manufacturer: Simax
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00004TXX3
Release Date: 2000-06-28

Music:

Music