[This review was originally published in Badaboom Gramophone #3 and appears here by permission.]
Drawing on a diverse pool of influences ranging from the pastoral folk of Pentangle and Incredible String Band to the odd rantings of Fall and Godz, Tower Recordings create a timeless music that borrows from numerous eras without really belonging to any of them. So far, they’ve dabbled in genres ranging from Kosmiche improvisation to backwoods country, but the New Yorkers always inject enough strangeness into whatever they do until it’s quite unlike anything else you’ve heard.
Rehearsals for Roseland is a diverse album of unpolished gems, capturing a band in search of its own voice. They slip in and out of various styles and instrumentation as if trying on a new pair of shoes while numerous “guest stars” stop by to add a little extra flavor and variety. It’s a stripped-down and intimate listen that lays the foundation for the growth and maturity displayed on later releases.
A minor masterpiece of ’90s psychedelia, The Fraternity of Moonwalkers is a devastatingly beautiful album that captures the stoned, folksy vibe of Amon Düül’s Paradieswärts Düül without ever resorting to krautrock plagiarism. Delicately strummed guitar chords and whispered vocals threaten to fall apart at the slightest touch, but that just adds to the deeply spiritual and personal nature of the music. This hypnotic album exists in an alternate universe where Bert Jansch has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and David Gilmour begs for scraps on a London street corner.
The split 10-inch with Me and Dave captures Tower Recordings’ alter ego, Planet T.R., as the group manipulates live recordings, but the side long improvisation never congeals into anything much. Let the Cosmos Ring, however, captures the group at its best. Tracks are longer than Tower Recordings material, yet they avoid overindulgence by earning the newfound length and space with the band’s usual sublime and heady mix of instrumentation.
The MV Holoscanner Exhibition is a solo project of member Matt Valentine.