| Download Review - The Mark 9's |
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Monday, 01 December 2008 |
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| Download Tracks |
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| Review by JD 25 Feb 2007 |
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Ok, the first thing I did when I was asked to review The Mark 9's mypace tracks, was to go to their site. The second thing I did was go back to the email and check the link. No, I had copied and pasted it correctly. As a last resort, I checked that they were indeed from Lincoln. Bugger me they are. What the hell is going on here, they're not metal, they're not punk, they're not indie. I went through the whole routine a second time, and, yep I had done everything right.
Gulp, this is going to make me work for my money.
Oh yeah, I don't get paid for this.
The Mark 9's label themselves as Experimental / Other / Alternative (and they state "Anti-genre). Well this year is turning out to have a lot of first's for me. And first of all there's no guitar! The Mark 9's are a three-piece: alto sax, bass and drums. I say again no bloody guitar!
The first track listed is "Tennis At The 1908 Summer Olympics" I don't know what this is. Is it jazz? Nu-Jazz? I'm not "up" on this style of music. But... It starts off with a marvellous bass riff, windy and meandering, before the drums (almost literally) crash in with the sax. Just my opinion here, but the drums are way too much to the fore to start off, but then seem to recede back into the mix. And when the mix evens out, this is good. I love what the sax is doing, it comes in and out of a repeating refrain, whilst the bass and drums play (seemingly) freeform behind. For a track without vocals, for a genre I'm not too familiar with, this song held my attention.
"Sutra" is next up, a bit mellower, and sounding "live" or probably badly recorded. In fact the drums sound awful, not the playing, the sound. The mid-eight slows things down somewhat and the bass almost takes on a growl, whilst the saxophonist works out.
"American Mysteries Of The Nile", is funky (again suffering from a bad mix), but one could almost see this as a film soundtrack, for some 70's cop show or a Blaxploitation film. As with all the songs presented by the Mark 9's, its very much sax driven, but not to the detriment of the bass and drums; they're not there just to provide a rhythm, they've both got a life of their own and how all three work together. I think this track is probably my favourite, probably because of it's up-tempo beat and its funky vibe. Lovely.
And finally "Ballad of Michael Smith (Irish Politician)". I felt this tune lacked the initial spark of the other three on first hearing, but it turned out to be a "grower". Some very nice "riffing" from the sax, and the underlying bass meandering all over (in the nicest possible way).
All in all four worthy tracks, my main gripe (and sorry if I'm labouring this point) was the mix. Just before I submitted this review I contacted The Mark 9's to ask for the titles (how bizarre are they?) and they told me that all the songs were recorded live at their practice room, which explains the mix, and rather left me feeling a little mean. However, I would love to hear these recorded and mixed professionally. I would also love to see these guys live. I wonder what sort of reaction they get. This, for Lincoln, is extreme. A very brave trio, not taking the easy route. And doing what they do well.
And I didn't miss the guitar!
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This page was last updated Monday, 26 February 2007
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