Sometimes you happen to come across a CD from a band or musician that captures your attention from the moment you put it on. Even if there is something just a little different or unusual about it, the release from that band or musician makes you want to let the CD play out so you can experience the whole album that is contained within the CD. A new CD was just released by the name of “Mechanic Organic” that falls into this situation. It is this album that recently drew me in with its unusual nature.
“Mechanic Organic” is the debut release from an outfit from Brooklyn, New York that goes by the name of Anima Anonima. Anima Anonima is a group of three musicians that use the names of FunGus, Su Dunham and Tim. These three members of Anima Anonima are all multi-instrumentalists and have combined their talents to create their new release of “Mechanic Organic,” a name that is very appropriate, as the band has created, almost from scratch, a new music sound by compiling soundbites from many different sources. With that foundation in place, the band went on to add sound loops, organized noise and other frequencies, as well as keyboards and live drums to create their music that has been described as “cinematic rock” or Electronic/Dance Rock music.
One of the best tracks on the album is “Melodica”. The rhythm for the song was painstakingly compiled from many soundbites to create a strong dance groove, and then the rest of the instruments, including a melodica (a hand-held keyboard that’s breath-powered), are brought together for one of the strongest songs on “Mechanic Organic”.
Another strong track on the album is the song “Money Hungry”. The song is one of the few instances when the band gets away from the keyboard-based sound. The band uses the rock-trio setting of guitar, bass and drums to create this indie-rock song that features Su on vocals with the simple lyrics of: “You’re Money Hungry, just like me.” The song creates a nice change of pace on an album that was mainly created using keyboards. But as the song also contains the ever-present organized frequency and feedback, it hardly seems out of place.
The three members of Anima Anonima formed having come from the indie-rock, jazz and electronic scenes in Brooklyn, New York. This helps to explain the fact that much of the material on “Mechanic Organic” was created at the time of recording. It also helps to explain why much of the new album has a very jazzy vibe to it. One of the songs on the album that comes across as jazzy is the track “Carbon Monoxide”. The track was created with the help of Eleanor Moonier, who adds her personal touch as she reads the poem she penned with the band adding the musical background.
The drum loops, the soundbites, the rock style, the noises and other frequencies, and jazz poetry come together on Anima Anonima’s new release of “Mechanic Orgainc” to create an album that is never dull and always entertaining. Unusual at times, the release keeps the listener interested. FunGus, Su Dunham and Tim have created an album unlike anything else. And that’s what makes it so good.
To learn more about Anima Anonima, check out their MySpace account at www.myspace.com/animaanonima.
Reviewed By Matheson Kamin
