CRESCENT

Collected Songs

(Swarf Finger) Used LP $25.00 (Out-of-stock)

Brothers Matt Jones (Amp) and Sam Jones (Flying Saucer Attack) move from slow, rhythmic, trance-like compositions to Walls of Sound, drawing equal inspiration from the more experimental end of British psychedelia and krautrock, using organic instruments and set-ups and adding just enough spoken vocals to imply a human presence. Many of these recordings from the late 90s wind up with the cinematic sound of Movietone, but other moments tend toward effective grooves, punctuated by dynamic organ work.

CRESCENT

Now

(Planet) Used LP $20.00 (Out-of-stock)

Recorded in a two-day session in 1998 that yields careful arrangement, exquisite tension, and a free see-what-happens approach. Crescent is rougher, more brusque, than Amp or FSA, with Jones’s speak-singing delivered in a semi-snarl, not really intelligible at many points, and the moody groove the band creates even at its calmest seems laden with a hint of threat. The unclean, commercially unfriendly production helps all the more.

CRESCENT

Sun

(Atavistic) Used 10-inch $7.00 (Out-of-stock)

“Sun” is a fantastic mix of fierce playing from the band and aggressive, intentionally dirty production. “*” sounds something like a drunk jazz band late at night with Matt Jones muttering low vocals in the distance. The extended “Unit System” closes the disc with a low, clattering drumbeat in the distance, guitar, bass and keyboard parts emerging from the production murk and a lengthy movie or interview segment unfolding throughout.