Pipher/Ocosi : Lyko

	Lyko Termite Hole	Download full album	It’s hard to tell on this little 3-track, 13-minute gem just where Pipher ends and OCOSI begins. But I know just enough about how the recording came together to know that that doesn’t matter—that this is a collaboration in spirit as well as deed. Both Pipher and OCOSI are masters of atmosphere—of the subtle use of the fraught gesture that delivers emotional impact at the same time it obscures literal meaning. Listening to Lyko is like waking up in the morning (or afternoon, if you prefer) and discovering that someone (or thing) has replaced the grocery list on your refrigerator with an antique postcard upon which is written a short and obviously urgent message in a strong hand and a language you don’t recognize. It’s the kind of thing that focuses your attention but doesn’t point to any particular thing to focus it on outside of itself— outside of that beautiful feeling of having the ordinary transformed into the bizarre, the waking dream. The proceedings start with a song, “Lyko”— which features a haunting melody sung over a starkly beautiful guitar accompaniment. But instead of playing it straight through, our boys have disassembled its parts and rearranged them into a kind of inverted rondo—guitar/vocals/interlude/guitar/vocals. The effect is at once striking in the clarity of its impeccable minimalist logic, and profoundly disorienting. There follows a longish electronic piece entitled “Termite.” It seems pretty simple—a long crescendo and diminuendo over a pulsing ostinato, and on paper it may not look like much. But then, to paraphrase Daniel Johnson, neither did Frankenstein. The fact is that within the piece’s basically static framework, its elements change and grow in a manner that’s almost menacing—or at least alarming. “Termite” is followed by another song—this one entitled “Hole.” And here it seems that Pipher’s guitar and vocals have been transported into the immense soundplace of “Termite.” It’s a real in-the-cathedral-at-three-a.m. experience, and you’ll want to be sure to stay in your seats for the last ultra-chilling seconds. Let’s hope that Pipher and OCOSI continue to work together. Until then, we can be thankful for this little shard of midnight. Dave Keifer

It’s hard to tell on this little 3-track, 13-minute gem just where Pipher ends and OCOSI begins. But I know just enough about how the recording came together to know that that doesn’t matter—that this is a collaboration in spirit as well as deed. Both Pipher and OCOSI are masters of atmosphere—of the subtle use of the fraught gesture that delivers emotional impact at the same time it obscures literal meaning. Listening to Lyko is like waking up in the morning (or afternoon, if you prefer) and discovering that someone (or thing) has replaced the grocery list on your refrigerator with an antique postcard upon which is written a short and obviously urgent message in a strong hand and a language you don’t recognize. It’s the kind of thing that focuses your attention but doesn’t point to any particular thing to focus it on outside of itself— outside of that beautiful feeling of having the ordinary transformed into the bizarre, the waking dream. The proceedings start with a song, “Lyko”— which features a haunting melody sung over a starkly beautiful guitar accompaniment. But instead of playing it straight through, our boys have disassembled its parts and rearranged them into a kind of inverted rondo—guitar/vocals/interlude/guitar/vocals. The effect is at once striking in the clarity of its impeccable minimalist logic, and profoundly disorienting. There follows a longish electronic piece entitled “Termite.” It seems pretty simple—a long crescendo and diminuendo over a pulsing ostinato, and on paper it may not look like much. But then, to paraphrase Daniel Johnson, neither did Frankenstein. The fact is that within the piece’s basically static framework, its elements change and grow in a manner that’s almost menacing—or at least alarming. “Termite” is followed by another song—this one entitled “Hole.” And here it seems that Pipher’s guitar and vocals have been transported into the immense soundplace of “Termite.” It’s a real in-the-cathedral-at-three-a.m. experience, and you’ll want to be sure to stay in your seats for the last ultra-chilling seconds. Let’s hope that Pipher and OCOSI continue to work together. Until then, we can be thankful for this little shard of midnight.

Dave Keifer

Home