There are some tremendously dark, almost Nordic ballads here; such as My Name Is Rune or Nova 88, both getting on a bit of a Marble Index trip…
There are some tremendously dark, almost Nordic ballads here; such as My Name Is Rune or Nova 88, both getting on a bit of a Marble Index trip…
(Ba Da Bing Records)
Sometimes it’s worth listening to something totally cussed; something that doesn’t buy into your worldview, even if you really dig the music that’s on offer. Something that has the very real potential to wind you up. This is one such record. That Overdue has no obvious emotional centre or sonic compass (preferring a sort of nihilistic space where we can dump our reactions) is its chief attraction for me; there are moments, from the off kilter soliloquy of opener Lithonia, (replete with overwrought chamber orchestra, playing some very WRONG things indeed), to the Ruth White-esque preaching on Acarina and I Am that make you wonder what on earth is going on.
Casting aside your reservations over whether this is either a brilliantly executed arty pisstake or the workings of someone who should never lose at Scrabble, it’s worth noting that there are moments that transcend any reviewer’s angst. There are some tremendously dark, almost Nordic ballads here; such as My Name Is Rune or Nova 88, both getting on a bit of a Marble Index trip, or, more prosaically, reminding me of very uncomfortable, almost cringe worthy experiences in my past. Nova 88 could soundtrack the time when a load of drunk (yes drunk, that’s what I said, drunk) German tourists turned up in the middle of a kindertotenlieder recital in the Munch museum in Oslo. Where to look, what to do… this music poses the same kind of questions.
Enough frippery, let’s concentrate on the magnificent bits on the LP, such as the orchestration on Hegira getting close – in emotional effect – to what Schultze did on Tarot. And (continuing the Kraut theme) Bud and Gin is a Krishna von Golowka pastoral shuffle split into two fabulous acts. Last track Some Day trumps all in its sheer bombast.
In short; sometimes off its tits but fabulous nonetheless.