Kayo Dot
Choirs Of The Eye

THE REVIEW

They're back. No, perhaps it's not exactly them, but a small part of them has survived the melting under the sun of the Maudlin Of The Well and lives again in Kayo Dot.
The passion for weird and absurd names must not have left Toby Driver, the (pen)thinking mind behind Maudlin Of The Well and the (pen)thinking mind behind Kayo Dot, who also benefit from a prestigious deal with Tzadìk, the label of a certain John Zorn, sounds familiar, right?
The reasons for the breakup of what will probably go down in (my) history as the most important musical collective of the last twenty years (I'm talking about Maudlin Of The Well, not ABBA) are unknown. In reality, little Toby goes around claiming that Maudlin have simply changed their name; should we believe him? Maybe, many members are still here, the many-armed Sam Gutterman on drums, the moving Terran Olson on winds, the good Greg Massi on guitars, Jason Byron who, like his namesake, pours rivers of words over the ethereal and dreamy notes that emanate from this disc and many others. New companions have joined like Mia Matsumyia on violin and viola, and Forbes Graham on trombone.

The chemistry, however, remains the same as Maudlin, although the style has deeply changed. The "metal" and progressive excesses have progressively stepped aside to make room for expanded, warm textures with a strong post-rock stamp à la GYBE, with many classically derived instruments weaving in a little everywhere. The jazz influences are still very strong, both in the phrasing and the instruments, Olson's sax and clarinet always reign supreme in carving deep grooves into your soul. Toby Driver's vocals are EMO-tional, finally comfortable in offering us falsettos so dear to the emo scene, perhaps a bit out of place in Maudlin, just as incredible screaming cacophonies in the sporadic excursions into the collective madness that only Maudlin and Kayo Dot are probably capable of creating with such clarity.
Amazing "A Pitcher Of Summer", with an overwhelming psychedelic sweetness, delicate as a rose petal (wow, what original simile) and heavy as a boulder (hey, I had to think a little more for this one).