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It must be very satisfying for an artist to lock himself up in a
studio and ‘creating’ a full cd practically all by himself: writing,
playing, singing, producing,… American Ant Graham is one of those
men who has managed to do just that.
Graham joined gothic rock band Mime Of Sin And Repent as the
guitarist in 1991. He didn’t stay with the band for very long and in
the following years, he quit playing the guitar and spent his time
learning MIDI on a PC. After picking up the guitar again, he joined
Christus And The Cosmonaughts in 2000, and he got the
opportunity to record a solo album, “The Art Of Falling Forward”,
which he released under the name noise626. He started playing
one-man live shows as well. “A Thin Cold Line” is his second album.
The Cure
meets Pink Floyd meets Bauhaus meets
Bowie;
that may be the best way to describe noise626’s music. There
are some interesting songs: the title track is slow and moody, and
Graham’s voice works very well here. The Bowie-like “The
Breaking” is also intriguing. “In Light Goes To Dark” you can again
hear
Bowie
and the Floyd and Peter Gabriel influences. In fact,
the best parts are the slower tunes, on which there are rich sound
tapestries performed by synths and acoustic and electric guitars.
The Floydian guitar solos are a treat. But as soon as the
computer ‘noise’ sets in, I’m afraid Graham loses me: computerized
drums, repetitive rhythms and harsh synth sounds; I must say I’m not
really wild about it. With a real band and some more real
instruments, this music might actually work very well. As it is, I’m
not too impressed.
Although there are some interesting bits and pieces on this cd, I
can’t see noise626 making a big breakthrough. This is
definitely one for a select audience. |
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Ant
Graham: Vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, bass, programming, synths,
piano and shakuhachi
Meridith Hyland: Vocals on 1
Scot Solida: Synths on 3 |
