2009, Sort of Records
VINYL FORMAT. Comprising two years of writing and recording, David Bernabo + Assembly's Happener-Magicker presents a sweeping concoction of pop, jazz-rock, and modern classical, all with a subtle anarchist twist. The 25-piece Assembly includes Julie Sokolow (Western Vinyl), Will Dyar (ex-Oakley Hall), and the core Assembly live band of guitarist Daniel Gene Newman II, drummer Owl Barns, bassist Christopher James, and saxophonist Brandon Masterman.
The shape-shifting group collaborates through a maze of harmonically intricate pieces from the swift rhythms and atonal beatbox of "Sub-Saharan" to the clipped structures of "Saxton" to the altered rock forms of "The Newest Thing" and "The Eclipse." "Out There" combines Sokolow's voice with prog guitar figures, achieving a triumphant blast of reassurance in the face of social downfall. The avant-funk of "Mahler Box" provides the greatest punch of politics, bleeding out lessons from Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky, Rudolph Rocker, and Kropotkin, all behind of haze of electronics and saxophone solos. The album closes with "My Gun," a gentler ballad that sums up themes and hints at future work for Bernabo and Assembly. New musical avenues, and a few admittedly fanatical detours into the music of Frank Zappa, Eberhard Weber, and Marvin Gaye, have produced an album brimming with excitement, a true assemblage of today's environment.
The shape-shifting group collaborates through a maze of harmonically intricate pieces from the swift rhythms and atonal beatbox of "Sub-Saharan" to the clipped structures of "Saxton" to the altered rock forms of "The Newest Thing" and "The Eclipse." "Out There" combines Sokolow's voice with prog guitar figures, achieving a triumphant blast of reassurance in the face of social downfall. The avant-funk of "Mahler Box" provides the greatest punch of politics, bleeding out lessons from Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky, Rudolph Rocker, and Kropotkin, all behind of haze of electronics and saxophone solos. The album closes with "My Gun," a gentler ballad that sums up themes and hints at future work for Bernabo and Assembly. New musical avenues, and a few admittedly fanatical detours into the music of Frank Zappa, Eberhard Weber, and Marvin Gaye, have produced an album brimming with excitement, a true assemblage of today's environment.
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