Labels: Archive
Review by: Unknown
Archive records is a small operation run by this dude called Scott from New York. He is a total bad-ass at capturing live audio for awesome bands… His most notable projects recently were the Sunn O))) Livewhite CD set which documents a fucking AMAZING set and he worked the audio for the Boris -feedbacker- DVD so you know this kid has game! Growing are a band about nature. Well, I made that up, the website is sparse and the layout of the two lp’s I have is even more so… But the one thing they do have in common is some nature kinda artwork going on. Plus the name of the band… Growing, all of nature is growing while humanity and it’s constructions are not. Plus the sound they play… lush, pretty, evolving, spacey, etc etc. So yeah, Nature. Ugh, none of that makes sense… Growing are an instrumental group playing epic pieces of music of sheer beauty that whilst they may seem to be lacking in structure and convention they manage to carry you along just like the most successful three minute chart hit.
So this is live document covering one night at North Six and one night at Free 103.9, there is no distinction between the two sets in the text but it doesn’t really matter as the sound quality is consistent throughout and the whole item can be consumed as a single piece. But if you want maximum enjoyment, I recommend treating them as two separate listens, the power of the material comes from the ebb and flow of the set. (For the record, first four tracks are one set and the second set is three tracks long.) The North Six set starts of whisper quiet, a quiet drone building up over 15 minutes to add a bit of drums before they fade back out. The fuzz of the second jam gets louder and louder before everything is stopped except the high pitched whine… This is fucking idiotic, I can’t explain these jams, you need to hear it for yourself.
I am shit at describing design jawns as well, but I hope I can convey how fucking well packaged this cd is. Archive don’t ‘do’ jewel cases. This cd is cased in a folded card digipack of sorts, stored in a clear sleeve. There is two pieces of art on the outside of the fold, pale green and yellow background with mirrored photo of a forest, very swish. The inside is a series of overlaid circles of all sorts of colours and it is also very pretty. The same design is on the cd itself and there is the very minimum amounts of text and a subtle ‘negative’ photograph. It is beautiful.
If you are a fan of Growing then pick this up asap, if you are not yet a fan of Growing pick this up now as you will be kicking yourself when you realise your love of Growing and this has long sold out…