This was the very first Acid Mothers Temple I bought, way back in 2001. Earlier that year, I'd read an article about them by Julian Cope in 'Mojo' Magazine'. It was one of these music articles that was severely lacking in facts, but instead was just a long string of ridiculous metaphors & gibberish.
That overly metaphorical approach.is something I hate in music writing. A good metaphor or poetic turn of phrase can certainly add some spice to a piece of writing. However, if you're trying to introduce readers to a particular band or particular album, before you get carried away with flowery metaphors (e.g - 'imagine a one-legged Johnny Cash on acid playing jazz with Throbbing Gristle underwater in Albania' or 'listening to this music is like flying on a magic carpet through silver tomato bushes while 1000 glam-rock leprachauns dance the can-can'... etc ) I think it's necessary to provide certain basic facts first, e.g - is this a real band that play instruments or is this music created entirely by samples on a computer ? How many people are in the band & what instruments do they use ? Is the music structured, melodic & rhythmic, or is it free-form & abstract ? etc. These facts don't necessarily need to be spelled out directly, but a good piece of music writing should allow the reader to ascertain them. The absence of these basic facts (as points of reference) just makes any metaphors meaningless.
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This article gave me no real sense of anything about the band. I didn't even know how long they'd been going for. I was left with the impression that they were some long lost & obscure band from the late 1960s, who were possibly still making albums. As for the music itself, these stupid made it impossible for me to imagine what they might actually sound like, other than it was very 'psychedelic' (which can mean almost anything these days) & also very 'strange'. My curiosity was piqued, as 'psychedelia' & 'strangeness' are two musical strands that very much appeal to me. However, I just presumed they were so obscure I'd never get a chance to hear them.
Despite this dreadful article giving me no real musical clues, the pictures of the band made a huge impression on me. They looked so otherwordly & fascinating, like a commune of wizards who lived in a cave in the mountains.
A few months later, I was amazed to see photos of this band on a gig poster. AMT were very much alive & kicking (despite me being left with the erroneous impression that they were some 'relic' from the late 1960s), and were coming to play a gig in my home town (Nottingham U.K) , Wow ! I had to see this, despite still having no real sense of what they might sound like.
This turned out to be the greatest gig I've ever seen by anybody. Not only were AMT amazing, but Julian Cope himself was present, & joined them on stage for their last few numbers. There's something wonderful about going to see a band without knowing what to expect, & then having your mind blown. These elements of glorious 'surprise' can never be had again (for instance,the point in the gig where they stopped playing their instruments, the bass player started doing throat singing, & then the band went into an acappela rendition of a french folk song - I could never have expected that !).
I'd hate to be a 'hipster'. Hipsterish people are just far too musically informed that there's no elements of 'surprise' left for them. Especially in this internet age, I doubt if any of these 'hipsters' go to see a band without first thoroughly familiarising themselves with said band's back catalogue.
They also ruin your enjoyment of music by their constant finding of obscure 'comparisons'. No matter how original & unique you find any music, they can always tell you that it (allegedly) 'sounds like' somebody else (e.g - 'This really reminds me of The Savage Puddings'. 'I've never heard of them. Who are they ?' 'You should check them out. They were a band that were active in The Bolivian underground bebop / sludge disco fusion scene of the early 1980s, & they made all their music with pencils').
Unfortunately, I had very little money on me that night, & wasn't expecting there to be a merchandise stall (with lots of c.ds & albums). I couldn't afford to buy anything then. However, thankfully we had a really 'hip' music shop in Nottingham (now sadly shut down). There was a few AMT c.ds in there (including this one) that I bought shortly afterwards.
I've subsequently bought loads more AMT c.ds, either through Amazon or at AMT gigs. After that first gig, they went on to become more or less my 'favourite band', & I've seen them another three times since. After buying a few more of their c.ds, I filed this one away & haven't listened to it for years, as I'd since got loads more of their c.ds which I enjoyed listening to much more than this one.
However, I dug this one out for the sake of this review, & after listening to it again, I felt it's not nearly as one-dimensional as I'd previously assumed. My memory of it was that it was all 'noise freakouts', one of AMT's styles that I can only take in small doses. I thought I could just sum it up as "a double c.d that's the quintessential AMT 'Noise Freakout' release", but' after listening to it again, I realise that it's far more of an 'experimental' album (so perhaps the correct accolade would be - 'it's the quintessential AMT experimental release').
None of this sounds like the kind of thing that could be reproduced live. There's lots of jump cuts, fiddling about with the settings on analogue echo effects, playing tracks backwards, abstract & freeform sections etc. I think my earlier disappointment with this is that it just didn't have any of the great psychedelic rock style that characterised that first gig I saw by them.
In many ways, this is a continuation of the 'Musique Concrete' approach of their self-titled first album, I just happen to prefer the first album to this one, though that's just personal taste.
This is still a key AMT release to have. It's an amazing fusion of psychedelia, musique concrete, avant-garde, & electronics that doesn't really sound like anybody else (despite what the hipsters claim).
Listening to it, you can sense that they were absolutely determined to make something very 'different', & explore new ways of recording & structuring tracks. It sounds inspired - as if this is totally the album they needed to make at this point, & they put their heart & soul into it (as opposed to some of their other 'experimental' albums, that sound like they've just gone into their studio for a few hours, noodled about, then given the recordings to some small label who wanted to release a c.d by them). There's a real intensity & determination infusing these recordings.
Even at it's most freeform & abstract (i.e - the majority of this album) it doesn't sound like they're just 'noodling'. It comes across that they know exactly what they want to do on each track, & manage to pull it off. No matter how 'out there' it gets, you can tell that there's a real sense of musicality at work here - an ear for variety of texture & timbre.
Most of this is 'difficult' listening, which is why I don't listen to it a lot,. Unlike a lot of AMT albums, that I could play to my friends, I don't know anybody else who might like this. In order to appreciate it, you need to have an ear for the avant garde. This album is so extreme that so far it's been a solitary pleasure, & I really don't know who I could possibly 'recommend' it to.
I'm not going to break it down track by track, especially as each track consists of a list of different titles (as they're obviously a number of separate pieces pasted together). Unlike most AMT albums, I think this has to be taken as a 'whole', & not broken down piece by piece.
Despite the majority of this album being 'difficult' & extreme, there are some moments of beauty. The second track on the first disc has a gorgeous shimmering wall of Indian stringed instrument (possibly tambura) that goes on for a long time before hitting a wonderful section of backwards drums & extremely trippy keyboard (this track is very much in the vein of ' Hyper Nebulous Meditation' from the 'Wake To The Dawn Of Another Astro Era' c.d). The first track on the second c.d is built on a series of lovey psychedelic loops. Other than that though, this album is extremely demanding listening, and I rarely find myself in the 'right mood' to listen to it.
I like that it exists (it's a unique sonic document). I like that I have it - I'm a huge AMT fan, and this is one of their 'key' releases. If you're also an AMT fan, this is probably one you should own.
However, unless your regular listening habits include noise & avant garde music, this might not be one that you want to listen to often.
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