Animal Hospital - Memory [Barge Recordings - 2009]Animal Hospital is a one-man project by Kevin Micka, whose music is created using guitars, a room full of effects and electronics. By today's standards, that set-up doesn't sound all that unusual, and of course, it isn't really. But Micka doesn't take the expected route when it comes to the music, and that makes Memory a worthwhile listen. Most of the album is quiet and introspective, but rather than simply creating an atmosphere, there are some actual tunes to grab your attention. You may have to listen intently to find them at times, but they're there. The guitar is frequently very recognisable, meaning it sounds like a guitar, and the effects are used to color the music, rather than hide the artist's shortcomings. Micka is all over the place, style-wise, and despite this fact Memory is cohesive. It was assembled with care over a period of three years, and each segment dovetails nicely with the next. One suspects that a lot of material was left on the cutting room floor, with only the best of the best saved for the listener. The disc starts off with a short piece, Good Times, an introduction of sorts, consisting of clean, finger picked guitar with a (slightly manipulated) music box in the background. His Belly Burst (could this be about appendicitis?) is the next piece, and it's a seventeen-plus minute monster. It starts off unassumingly enough with a classical sounding suite consisting of cello by Jonah Saks, ebow guitar and general ambience. Halfway through a thudding muted guitar chord used as percussion enters the picture, building toward a rhythmic, hypnotic ending. The next track, 2nd Anniversary, is a transitional, short drone piece which takes you into the album's loudest segment; titled simply ...and ever. It's another long track, and the most obvious comparison you could make would be to King Crimson. Keeping in mind that this music is all created by one man, with limited instrumentation, the piece is quite an accomplishment. The track sounds like a cross between the dirty distortion of the Red era Crimson blended with the cleaner, more melodic, Discipline era.
From there the album mellows out a bit, but it doesn't necessarily go down hill. In fact, it ends on a serene note, mixing low end drone with acoustic guitars, which after such a ride seems appropriate. Memory was recorded at various locales, such as an old bank in West Virginia, an antiquated movie theater, etc. Perhaps the artist's intention is to bring the essence of these places, and of memories from his past into his music. Not an easy thing to do with (practically) all instrumental music, but in the least this is a valiant effort. Whether or not you pick up on the theme, it's pretty damned entertaining.    Erwin Michelfelder
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