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A Spiritual ConnectionTHERE is a distinct moment on Yearning - the 15-minute opus that acts as a centrepiece to You Are There, the fifth and most recent studio album from Tokyo experimental quartet Mono - where the world seems to be collapsing in on itself. A looming bank of heavily reverbed guitars draw and rear, tearing at the tracks edges, their roaring resonance like a cyclone. Drums rumble and thunder, arc and shatter; bass oscillates and throbs. It is as though the ground is moving. And then, its gone. Fading, swirling, sinking into a mass of drone and reverb and analog tape hiss. It is beyond music, beyond form. It is pure feeling, untainted, inexplicably intense emotive detail, and it captures Monos unique sensibility. "Music is like a book, or a film, or a painting," says guitarist and unofficial band leader Takaakira "Taka" Goto, speaking from Tokyo. "I saw Lars Von Triers Breaking the Waves just before we started the band, and it totally changed me. "It was ugly and sad and received much criticism, but it overwhelmed me. Dancer in the Dark did the same. Its that thing where hope and light exist at the end of sadness. "And thats what music should do. It should be emotion exploding every second, beautiful enough to make you cry, but something that still gives you hope." While often mentioned in the same breath as post-rock stalwarts Mogwai, Mono try hard to avoid being pinned down. The other members of the group are guitarist Yoda, drummer Yasunori Takada and bassist Tamaki. Mono will launch Gone: A Collection of EPs 2000-2007 on their Australian tour. Monos mission is to capture the same sort of emotional qualities as classical music, says Taka. "When we first started in 2000, we were more influenced by loud guitar music like Sonic Youth or My Bloody Valentine. But by 2002 I was totally hooked on classical music. "I started thinking more about how we, a four-piece guitar band, could express emotions in the same way as Beethoven or Ennio Morricone," he says. "So I began to learn more about arrangements and dynamics, symphony and chords. It wasnt about trying to replicate the style of music, but the stories and feelings it could convey. "So much post-rock sticks to that obvious loud-soft format, and it never moves anyone." The band has added string sections to their signature wall of guitars, bass and drums on You Are There, recorded on tape with the legendary Steve Albini at Electric Audio in Chicago. The end result - from the searing crescendo of 13-minute opener The Flames Beyond the Cold Mountain, to the wondrous glacial drones of The Remains of the Day - is a densely layered work of near-symphonic tension and release, and by far, their most developed result to date. Gone: A Collection of EPs 2000-2007 is out now through Sensory Projects/Inertia.Tag CloudExternal InformationAdditional InformationNaomi’s boyfriend confirms baby rumours...Grown Up, Cleaned Up and ?Back in the Game?... Brosnan accused of hitting snapper... Sneaky climb to the top... Where Am I?News Main Page - Business - A Spiritual Connection |
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