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A little blast from the past... :)
Some reviews...
30 Day Hex and Glissando "Love or no Love" (Gizeh Records)
The packaging on this promo is awesome, purely arty, but very stylish as well. The prospect of writing a review for a one track CD is a bit weird, but then within the first minute of wonderful ambience I hear Bill Hicks' sampled voice, and all becomes well. There is some excellent feedbacky style drones, reverb drenched noises and voices, and floating sounds washing over everything, and then the introduction of a very quiet guitar sound and delicate feminine vocals start to piece some kind of structure to the track.
Already I am thinking Mogwai, Third Eye Foundation, Godspeed You Black Emperor with the addition of The Cranes, Radiohead (especially later on, certainly reminds me of "Everything in its place"), Mercury Rev, Ani Defranco, Mazzy Star and possibly Spiritualized in the vocal sound and delivery style. This is very dramatic, alive sounding ambient music and when the vocals drop out momentarily at the four minute mark, and some more drama is introduced into the equation in the slightly out of key drones, there is a massive sense that something big is going to transpire here.
And so the song builds, delayed echoing build ups, and more pressure on the plucking of the strings, with more swirling sounds coming in and out keep it quite tense, but also very nice sounding and beautiful. I almost cannot take the tension as I just want the song to do whatever it has to and take me with it, but in GSYBE style, the song really goes for it on the build up, but still manages to remain absolutely stunning. The vocals are so beautiful, captivating, and completely off kilter with the almost disturbing noises that are brewing and slashing underneath.
This is one oddball, but excellent ambient vocal track, with plenty of weird twists and swirls, and most definitely needs those lava lamps warmed up before pressing play for it. And I just noticed after listening that it was recorded LIVE at The Josephs Well in May 2002! Well, that's me now more of a fan of live recordings than ever before.
Raw Nerve Promotions (2003)
30 Day Hex: "30 Day Hex" (Gizeh Records)
More of a mini album or, as they used to say in the old days, a ‘maxi single’ from 30 Day Hex, part of the highly impressive new Gizeh Records stable. This lot make a wonderfully agreeable racket...all atmospheric in places, but always simple and uncomplicated. I don’t want to lump them in with the post-rock crowd because I’m not that genre’s greatest fan, in fact I’d go as far to say that post-rock is ‘shite’...apart from Mogwai of course...who I love like my own hands...anyway where was I?....Ah yes, 30 Day Hex....fine band, long tunes, but nice loud guitar playing...and that, my friends, is what really matters.
Tasty Fanzine (2002)
30 DAY HEX: "30 Day HEX" (Gizeh Records)
Another offering from Gizeh Records, though 30 Day Hex go a bit for a different sound than the above mentioned Glissando on this 6 track release. I was quite surprised in which walls of sound the songs of 30 Day Hex usually climax. They manage to use lots of feedback guitars-wails and still sound melodic during those songs. On songs like 'Picture perfect' you think a bit of a slight Jesus & Mary Chain, on other songs like 'Stick thing' one guesses it is more like Durutti Column with feedback guitars if that would exist. My fave piece is the closing 'Lullaby at bedtime' which is exactly what it promises to be and a well chosen more dreamy end to this.
Original Sin's Discobar
30 Day Hex: "30 Day Hex" (Gizeh Records)
30 Day Hex class themselves as "experimental rock" and bring us an 11 track album full of melancholic madness. With songs with titles like "Programmes like Nightrider and Airwolf" and "Lives on the TV screen", I knew this was no normal album. A sort of Frank Zappa and Led Zeppelin combined, with some electronica thrown in too. It is all very confusing, as you have to listen very intently to know what is going on. They like to create very subtle textures, and I was gripped for ages trying to pick out the layered parts.
However, the tracks tend to drag on a little bit, but there is enough going on in the background to keep the attention there. The use of sound effects by this band are excellent and they use them to their advantage. Sometimes, effects can be overused and the music can seem very boring, but there is never a dull moment here. One of the tracks of here is called "Phone" and it is a piece of music with a phone conversation layered over the top. One of the most bizarre tracks on here is "Picture of Acid", where there is an in-tune guitar playing chords, and an out of tune guitar picking the same chords.
The band seem to throw chord structures out in their songs and just basically seem to jam them through, which is not a bad thing, in fact its more creative. 30 Day Hex are not as mainstream as some of the bands I have reviewed, more underground and I like that. They have a 8 date nationwide tour coming up, and they are sure to impress. They certainly impressed me.
Leedsmusicscene (2002)
Live Review
30 Day Hex finally took the stage amidst some weird and wonderful noises that made me wonder if we were getting the first song, or were they testing instruments/equipment (I want to know what the box thing with the long clear hose attached was, any ideas anyone?). This was because there were various members of the band still wandering around plugging stuff in and twiddling knobs and poking and moving things, but there was also an underlying sensation of some kind of structure here as well. As the band settle into their places the noises to on a more definite implication that this was indeed the first song. 30 Day Hex are certainly using more distortion and feedback in their sound than I remember them using before, and using it throughout the entire set. This is another band that creates epic songs with interwoven melodies, this time with occasional trumpet and a Darth Vader meets Cher type vocal effect. Sometimes I got the feeling that some of tunes were spiralling out of control and some of the melodic effect was lost due to guitar distortion sounds being so loud. There was a point were I could see both the drummer and the keyboard player doing things and couldn't hear either of them, the melodies crept back in as the sound levels came down and the layers achieved a distinct separation again. Its an interesting sound but doesn't make for the most relaxed listening after the final chilled song from Invention of Hands and the poet. It's the kind of thing I prefer to listen to when I have time to follow all the different bits, preferably with a few beers and time on my hands. There is a chaotic feel to part of it as the sounds swirl round each other. Again I am unsure of what each of the songs are called, but I think it was the second song that started slightly discordant. It was as though there were several threads and when they met at particular points they clashed with discordant note that came close but never quite, set my teeth on edge. The strobe light that appeared later was also in my direct line of sight and as I had people all around I couldn't move away. As I shut my eyes though I could concentrate on those threads of music and was able to hear it come together. Its clever stuff, but I can see that people who prefer more mainstream music, wanting something simpler. The final track has elements of everything that has gone before and as I was drifting along with it and listening to the sound effects beeping and gurgling away I wrote the first 2 things that came to mind - 2001 space odyssey and the clangers. It has that sort of sweeping hugeness of 2001 with these cute beeping/squeaking noises in it. I'm sure the band are ready to shoot me now so I'll stop.
Leedsmusicscene (2001)
Live Review
30 DAY HEX, a bunch of instrumental hombres who are squeezed on to the stage at the Org's Thursday night at Highbury Upstairs at the Garage (which is easy for us to say) like a pack of dogs into a shoebox, and still manage to sound lethal
Playlouder
Black Square: Yellow Square (self-released)
Blimey – this is a collection of works and a half. Plenty of samples and noises going on here on the introductory track . This collection is such an immense body of work, but the general theme is the same. It’s a collection of numbers that switch from stripped down instrumental sonic soundscapes to acoustic guitar led musings. But all the way through the whole plot is deliberately disjointed and interspersed with electronic interference, skewered beats and difficult arrangements. “Picture Perfect” is a slab of murderous distorted sequencing – a bleak digitised rock track. As an example of how odd this collection is “Phone” is an acoustic / ballady strum, with phone bleeps and conversations sampled into it.
Every track on here is full of surprises and its not 11 tracks ready for syndication, its 11 experiment s in sound, carefully laid out for you. But if you listen to this you’ll learn and hopefully at least get some inspiration. A very brave, intelligent and you could say groundbreaking effort.
Manchestermusic.co.uk (2002)
30 Day Hex
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