Dianogah
As Seen From Above

1997, dazzling debut album for this atypical post-rock trio from Chicago, drums and two basses, but don't just imagine one bass playing the bass and the other trying to make up for the lack of guitars somehow; these are the two flattest sounding basses that exist, with no startling effects, delay, or missed guitarist antics.

Their debut work is a compact album, no digressions, no dull moments, just two basses and a drum kit, with the apathetic voice of Jay Ryan intruding in two tracks, which honestly could have been avoided... No song stands out over the others, this is not the post-rock of Mogwai or GYBE!, we're closer to Slint, with no walls of sound or evocative moments; the essence of the album lies precisely in the composition, it's a bit like reading a film script without watching it... but Dianogah are excellent screenwriters: Jason Harvey and Jay Ryan's basses build almost baroque plots, intertwining arpeggios, nervous melodies, exquisite technicalities, all accompanied by the essential yet not simplistic drumming of Kip McCabe.

The tracks are relatively short, crescendos are rare and never culminate in the genre's classic sound explosions, the rhythm changes almost sneakily, as if the three don't want us to notice what's happening. The best episodes with a marine derivation are "Plankton & Krill" and "Between the Ship and the Land", but these are impressions from the latest listens, because you discover something new each time (a quite obvious phrase for a review, but that's how it is).

Emotional factor: none... or rather, it's not a sad album, like many records of the genre, obviously, it's not an album to play at a party either; Dianogah manages to produce neutral music that speaks only to the brain, the listener's pleasure lies in confronting the proposed solutions, appreciating the perfect structures, even the vocals (I repeat: avoidable) does not intend to enhance the overall pathos.

Let yourself be taken by this whirlwind of non-emotion and get this album.