RACKET
Group name: Whitehouse
Album title: Racket
Catalog #: SLCD029
Studio album #: 19
Release Date: May 31, 2007
Day I got it: June 9, 2007
Cover art: created by Stefan Danilsson. Very impressive. Looks almost like the kind of cover you'd see if you'd take some old CRASS albums and remixed them with some African/Voodoo imagery. In the past, Whitehouse has usually been known for their very minimalist, deliberetly unarty covers, usually just text over a plain one-color background, and the only exceptions from this rule were the couple of albums that Trevor Brown did for them back in the 1990's. So it's kind of nice to see them branching out in this direction. In fact, of their CD releases, this is easily the best cover they've had, along with the one that Brown did for "Mummy & Daddy" (back in 1998). The dominant colors this time are brown and black, giving the booklet/back cover an almost cardboard appearence (though in fact the actual pages are glossy paper).
Booklet: 16 glossy brown pages with black text. Lyrics and credits are given for all of the songs. In addition to this, there are also two stunning full-color photographs of the band's primary members, William Bennett (who founded Whitehouse back in 1980), and Philip Best (who joined the band back in 1982... he was only 14 at the time). These photographs are taken from a Whitehouse live action and are the work of a friend of mine from the DC blog, Melissa Musser (she also had a short story in "Userlands", so in that regard we're allies). Bennett is identified as an "Animal Response Technician" while Best is dubbed the "Dirty Word Specialist." As he's done for the last few Whitehouse releases, Bennett is listed as the album's producer. The booklet also lists the instruments used in the creation of the album. Now, in the past, Whitehouse has often been very vague about the instrumentation used, often just listing "instruments, Sony, Roland, Yamaha", and so forth. Here, however, they provide a more detailed list: Djembes, Doundouns, Ksings, Microphones, and Computers. This list gives the listener one of the first clues that this new album is more acoustic than electronic (another clue is the warning on the back cover, which states "Extreme Acoustic and Electronic Music"... the word "Acoustic" coming before "Electronic"). Many of the instruments listed are African in origin, which ties in with the album's cover and the group's new sound in general (indeed, Bennett is a Djembe player and has used the drum on the last two Whitehouse albums).
Tracks: Seven in all, just like their last album ("Asceticists 2006"). Seven tracks might not sound like a whole lot, but given that most Whitehouse albums usually have no more than six (indeed, many of the early albums they did back in the 1980's often had around 4 songs), this is more than usual.
Running time: Slightly under half an hour, again like "Asceticists 2006". Kind of short, but I don't mind... it takes me about half an hour to drive to work anyway, so that allows me to listen to the entire album on the way up.
Track analysis:
1. Fairground Muscle Twitcher
The album kicks off with an instrumental track which serves as a sort of introduction. Bennett is listed as the creator of this track. At a little over two minutes, it provides a good opening track. What sounds like a looping harmonica/air raid siren, sounding kind of like the backing noise on the song "Philosophy" (from their album "Bird Seed" back in 2003).
2. Mouthy Battery Beast
The second track is also the album's first vocal track, and is credited to both Best and Bennett, though Best handles all the vocal chores (a task he's been doing to a greater and greater frequency with each Whitehouse release). Of all the tracks on the album, this one seems most like one off "A2006". In fact, the background beat sounds very much the same as the one used on "Language Recovery", only this time it seems a little less electronic, sounds much more acoustic. You can almost actually hear Bennett's hands striking the surface of the djembe! Over this racket Best shouts out his lyrics in his "Dans" style, only less distorted this time. Most of the lyrics seem to be extracted from "poems" that he sometimes posts on his blog (http://philipbest.blogspot.com/). And, as always, his delivery is priceless, especially when he sings "Of... Of... Of? Of Cat's Urine, Of Canine Stink, Of Rotten Animal Inheritance?" Also as usual, I don't have much of a clue as to what the fuck he's going on about, but I like a bit of mystery... At the moment, however, on first listen, this may be the weakest track on the album, but maybe my mind will change. I do like how in the second half of the song there are no vocals at all, just accelerating shards of noise over the hypnotic beats...
3. Dumping More Fucking Rubbish
Another vocal track, again credited to both Best and Bennett, with both of them sharing vocal duties. The track is an extended version of "Dumping the Fucking Rubbish", which was the final (and very brief) track off "A2006" (and also the inspiration for the chapter title of the same name in my book "Confusion"). If anything, this version is even sparser and more stripped back than the original, mainly just a very erratic, stattacco, hollow-sounding drum beat, with some weird noises going on in the background now and then. Best's vocals sound even more rabid than usual here, as he shouts out lyrics that are actually modified questions taken from Scientology security checks (such as "Is sex degrading to your body?" and "Been implanted with sexual compulsions?") In the song's second half Bennett takes over on vocals, and his screaming takes on the deranged aspect seen in older Whitehouse tracks such as "Wriggle Like a Fucking Eel" as he shouts "Rise up/ Rise up now/ Pull Yourself together/ And Kill This Fucking Nightmare/ That is Inside You/Now". When he chants "Dump the Fucking Rubbish" you just wish it would never end but, sadly, it does. These lyrics are better than any self-help book out there on the market IMO. The song end on a quiet note, much like it's predecessor, with just a simple cymbal-sounding click, obviously some sort of African instrument whose name eludes me.
4. The Avalanche
The album's midway point is a second instrumental, again credited to Bennett. This song has been played at many of their live shows, and was to have been on the tracklisting of last year's "A2006" before it was replaced for "Dans." But Bennett promised back then that it would be on a future release and now here it is. An icy, arctic-sounding song, like Pan Sonic with teeth, lots of stuff going on in the background, very alien sounding. In the track's distance one can here what sounds like a sort of rumbling, like an avalanche perhaps? H'mm. Anyway, cool song.
5. Bahnhof
Another track credited to both Best and Bennett, with Best doing all of the vocals again. This is the shortest track on the album, being under two minutes long. Again, the lyrics seemed to be cribbed off of Best's blog. This is one of the most acoustic-sounding tracks on the album, with a kick-ass rattling beat, as if they're drumming on skeleton bones or something. Short and sweet.
6. Dyad
The album's last vocal track, written by Bennett, with vocals provided by himself and Best. In this song, like "Rubbish", Best again sings on the first half while Bennett sings on the second half. And as always, the vocals are great. This track has some of the best instrumentation on the album, with what sounds like a stuttering beat and other weird sounds, what sounds like someone flipping through radio stations rapidly. Very interesting lyrics, with more Scientology references again (much like their last two albums). The final lyrics of the album are "I'll give you this/ I'll give you this one last time/ I'll give you this one final chance/ To see who the fuck you really are/ One final chance now to fucking get it." I wonder if this could be the final Whitehouse album? Bennett has mentioned starting a new music project this year, "Afro Noise". Could "Racket" then be seen as the transition from one project to another? The end of Whitehouse and the birth of Afro Noise? I guess only time will tell. It is most likely, however, that the above lyrics are aimed at WIRE magazine, a periodical that Bennett really seems to dislike, if his blog entries concerning it are anything to go by.
7. Bia Mintatu
The album ends as it began, with another Bennett instrumental, this one nearly seven minutes long, the longest track on the CD. Words cannot describe how cool this song is. An ominous plodding beat, weird noises, beeps, drones, high tones, what sounds like horns, gongs, and so forth. One of the most diverse Whitehouse songs I've heard in years, someone on the Susan Lawly message board said it would make great battle music should anyone ever decide to make a movie of "World War Z". A stunning climax.
Conclusions:
Well, another Whitehouse album come and gone. To be honest, I'm surprised how quickly thsi one came out after "A2006", as in the past there would often be long gaps in between each album. In any event, this is perhaps the most experimental, wildly diverse Whitehouse album yet, expanding their sonic palette and pointing towards a brave new future. More than any album they've done yet, this one really does bear the influence on the "Congotronics" project, a group that Bennett has actually admitted he likes, and it is certainly Whitehouse's most "African" album to date, from the cover art to the instruments used to the music itself. I guess when a band's been around for about 27 years one shouldn't be too surprised that after awhile they're going to try out new sounds, but it's funny how a band which shunned any sort of acoustic/rythmic instrumentation whatsoever has embraced it this late in the game. All in all, a remarkable achievement (though I wish that Bennett had provided more vocals as I really love his singing style... I had this same complaint with "A2006"). Who knows what the future will hold for Whitehouse? I can't wait to hear what they'll do next! |
