| CD Review - iodo - True Love Waits |
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| CD EP |
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| Review by JD |
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After listening to iodo's "True Love Waits" a couple of times, I really had a problem coming to this review. Without resorting to the NME practice of over-hyping I wanted to ensure that people (particularly for those that have never heard iodo) would perhaps be curious enough to check it out. I wanted to get across to people what an important disc this is for Lincoln and music enthusiasts in general. Important in the sense that iodo have, with "True Love Waits", produced a stunning CD of six wonderfully crafted tunes, delivered in breathtaking style and showcasing some excellent (if at times understated) musicianship without show-boating. Timeless and free of the shackles of any current vogue. Its characterised by some (seemingly) free form jazz interludes, by some staggeringly good intrumentation and some thought provokng lyrics.
I could wax lyrical for ever just on the packaging of "True Love Waits", I could tell you that its a mini CD (3 1/2 ins), that when its loaded onto the PC it brings up a slide show full of song titles, credits, explanations (I had no idea what "Calenture" meant). But ultimately it would tell you nothing. It wouldn't impel you to go out and buy it, nor to go to iTunes and pay to download. It perhaps might give you a small insight into the thought processes, the creativity, the love that goes into an iodo CD. But at the end of the day, people don't buy a CD for the packaging, it possibly helps, but no matter how good the packaging, if a CD is full of sub-standard tunes, then it'll never get played.
I guarantee though, that this CD will be played.
The first thing that hits the listener, is the richer sound iodo have on this CD - its amazing that this was recorded at home rather than in a studio. They have augmented their sound with some rather special guest appearances from Dan Svarc on guitar, Rogan Brown on drums and Alexandra Richardson (flute and sax). This certainly is no detriment to the iodo sound, but rather adds to the fullness of the tracks, integrating well with the sounds already explored by iodo on previous works.
First track "Altruism" revolves around a cornet riff that would be at home on any Zappa album, and though eschewing the verse chorus verse standard returns to the motif unapologetically, bringing the listener back from some provocative meanderings.
"Pentagram (The Parable Part I)", is (as the title suggests) part one of a trilogy-plus-one (what's the word for four pieces of linked work - quadology?) exploring themes of religion, life and consumerism. There is some lovely instrumentation, particularly the bass work on this track, as it rides through a multitude of different musical shades. A theme which continues on "Love is Calenture", which is perhaps the most reminiscient of earlier iodo works, all of the instrumentation working well together, forming a multi-layered tune, whilst not resorting to individual spotlighting. Its obvious to the listener how well iodo work together as a band, to create tunes where each plays a integral part, without storming off into self-masturbation land. A typical iodo roundel leads (somewhat unexpectedly) to a stunning guitar breakdown to end this track.
The bass motif running through "Bullring (The Parable Part II)" gallops along providing a sense of urgency that is completely at odds with the tune. This is something that iodo do so well, one instrument racing along whilst others, tortoise-like, provide different hues, building atmosphere in a manner that very few bands can match.
Starting with an acoustic guitar, "The Devil And The Materialist (The Parable Part III)" seems to point to a standard (and very unlike) iodo song format before a deliciously discordant guitar, which I assume is courtesy of Dan Svarc, creates a free form feel to the instrumental work out.
More acoustic guitar and an almost Radiohead vocal phrasing opens "Silica Gel (The Parable Part IV)", which, for iodo, is a vocal heavy tune. This tune is stripped back with some atmospheric guitar phrasing, relying more on the vocal delivery than on instrumentation.
All in all a magnificent offering. I would go as far as to say its possibly one of the best releases of the year, and I'm not talking locally released, I would say that this EP is one of the best releases NATIONWIDE!! It's an essential addition to any music lover's collection and perhaps the benchmark against which a lot of lesser should be judged.
JD Oct 02, 2007
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This page was last updated Monday, 11 January 2010
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