My Disco
Paradise

I make my debut on this charming site by bringing to your attention an album that should not be missing from the shelf of the Guru Albini followers (who are numerous here, with a hand opening and closing like a carnivorous plant).

Indeed, “Paradise” by shellachesco has almost everything, from the choice of timbre (EGC guitar and bass) to the recording studio (Chicago's Electrical Audio).

I said almost. The sly Australian trio My Disco (Big Black omen) surpasses in paroxysm the minimalism and timbres of Shellac, departing from their sharp and vaguely bluesy rock guitarism and favoring a rhythm closer to the compelling and hypnotic essence of certain disco music.

Like rebellious Tibetans, My Disco unfurl their acoustic mantras in a sometimes relentless manner (with obsessive strumming on the same note or chord for minutes on end), sometimes rarefied (strings struck like bell tolls, interspersed with total voids).

The guitarist indulges in that characteristic aluminum sound, so bright and abrasive, letting the sustain do all the work for him. The bassist is the most “lazy” of all, even though he compensates by adding a “vocal” (a monotone litany of single phrases). The drummer, with metronomic discipline, repeats a pattern throughout the track, enhancing its already high psychedelic potential and allowing us to enjoy percussions with splendid natural reverberations.

What I like most about this album is how they managed to make it sound, rather than how it was composed and performed. Moreover, the minimalism is skillful, succeeding in being more provocative by taking things away rather than adding them.

Releasing such a work must have required a great deal of courage and conviction. It doesn't sound like any other album, but due to the obvious limits allowed by the experiment, it cannot find further original developments (the subsequent album, “Little Joy,” will indeed be a mere reiteration of the concept but in a softer and more danceable way).

It should preferably be listened to without background noise; you must savor every sizzle, every harmonic beating, every silence, every rumble, every gnagno gnò.

The most representative tracks: “Paradise,” “An Even Sun,” and “German For Attention.”