Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

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.  

Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5

Erwin Michelfelder
Latest Reviews

Animal Hospital - Memory
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...
240226   Stephen O‘Malley - Spheres ...
200226   100 Tears - 100 Tears( Blu Ray)
200226   Garden Of Love, - Garden Of L...
200226   Blood Dolls - Blood Dolls( Bl...
190226   Various Artists - So High I'v...
190226   D.A.M. - Inside The Wreckage
190226   Senso - Senso( Blu Ray)
190226   Columbia Noir # 7: Made In Br...
180226   Brutal Shift - Pain Has Broug...
180226   Jakob The Liar - Jakob The Li...
Latest Articles

Crude ‘n’ Hope-corroding Wall...
Back in 2024, I got my first taste of Absurd Reality, and I was so impressed by how crude and nasty its take on walled noise was. Behind the project is South...
290126   Crude ‘n’ Hope-corroding ...
231225   Creepy Images Books - Killer Art
221225   Best Of 2025 - Music, Sound &...
041225   The Spectral Sounds of The Pr...
281025   Michael Hurst Interview - Unb...
071025   Xiphos - The Rise And Fall Of...
030925   Third Window Films - A Label ...
130825   HNW fest- Barcelona- 12th Apr...
250725   Raté interview - Walled-in F...
180625   Matthew Holmes - Of razor-sha...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2025. Twenty four years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom