Ashley Reaks - Compassion Fatigue (1-8)
by Lisa Torem
published: 15 / 7 / 2014
Label:
Ashley Reaks
Format: CD
intro
Uncompromising but rewarding sixth album from Harrogate-based visual artist and experimental musician, Ashley Reaks
Visual artist/musician Ashley Reaks is one of the most innovative composer/arrangers around. In his previous recordings, such as last year's 'Power Failure' and 'Here’s To the Good Life and Melancholia', recorded two years earlier, he has explored everything from experimental to acoustic folk ballads, spoken word to pop. His love of language, be it dark, threatening or painfully tender, earmark his incredibly personal compositions, and on each album he seems to employ a different concept. On his new release 'Compassion Fatigue (1-8'), the Harrogate artist uses a set format: the first song is one minute long and written in the key of A, and each song that follows is a minute longer and in an alternate key. This structure gives Reaks the freedom to explore, and explore he does. With him, are musicians he has used previously: Ian Peak is back on saxophone, Mark Law and Dan Mizen share percussive duties, Nick Dunne plays some wild guitar and keys on ‘Wrong ‘Un’ and ‘Street Cleaning,’ two gritty, film-noir gems and Dave Kemp also plays sax and accordion. Leeds-based vocalist, Maria Jardardottir has appeared on a number of Reak’s albums. She has a spectaular ear and impressive range. Set against Reak’s gruff, yet sonorant pipes, she sounds like an earth-angel. The way the two trade off on verses and tempos is fascinating. Reaks enjoys characters and here there are a few – as he says, two songs are devoted to psychopaths. ‘Joyless Joy’ is a study of a woman who has a “face like the Berlin wall/Should have been a girless girl.” She “had a one night stand with a nonwhite man back in ‘73” – she, like many of Reaks' characters, seems to be lost, futureless and deserving of pity. But whether he chooses to write about lonely women or killers, which he also has done in the past, he is a master at the fleshing out of complex personas. Musically, the title song is like a fusion of Zappa and prog rock. ‘The World The Dead Have Made for Us’ features odd rhythms and that curious call and response between Jardardottir and Reaks. It is bursting with activity. Reaks' voice swerves against a myriad of bytes and , Jardardottir’s breathy vocals cross over way out percussion – this madness competes with out-there strumming on ‘Cold Body Pussycat’. ‘Wrong ‘Un’ begins with a djembe? A well-mannered violin seeps through the jungle beat. A steady chant grows into an aggressive rant. ‘Cot Death Grandmother’ features more dizzying beats and the sense of hustle and bustle in a crowded souk – this woman has strong opinions: ‘She’s anti-black, anti-white” – the energy is heightened with horns and then a fugue of even more furious horns fill ‘Street Cleaning.’ The last song, ‘Disconnected’ at eight minutes, as the structure dictates, has almost a Klezmer sound. Reaks magnifies emptiness and outsiderness with his symmetrical stanzas: "I am the femme fatale without a heart to break,” and “I am the debutante without a stitch to wear…” 'Compassion Fatigue (1-8)' is not an album to casually explore. It is, as Reaks states, experimental and he really means what he says. He explores polyrhythms, fuses grating and beautiful sonics and often whips up bizarre themes, which he peppers with vulgar street language. But if you’re up for soaring beyond the ordinary, Reaks takes you there.
Track Listing:-
1 Compassion Fatigue2 The World the Dead Have Made for
3 Cold Body Pussycat
4 Wrong 'Un
5 Cot Death Grandmother
6 Street Cleaning
7 Joyless Joy
8 Disconnected
Band Links:-
http://www.ashleyreaks.com/https://twitter.com/ashleyreaks
http://ashleyreaks.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ashleyreaksart
https://ashleyreaks.bigcartel.com
https://www.youtube.com/user/ash231266
interviews |
Interview (2023) |
Harrogate multi-talent Ashley Reaks just released ‘Winter Crawls,’ which includes a host of well-known guests, superb imagery and one-off instrumental work. He updates Lisa Torem with the back stories. |
Interview (2018) |
Interview (2010) |
Interview (2009) |
soundcloud
reviews |
The Earth Swan Sings Again (2018) |
Imaginative latest album from Harrogate-based experimental musician Ashley Reaks which is a great culmination of uncompromised talent |
Before Koresh (2015) |
Power Failure (2013) |
Here's to the Good Life (2010) |
Melancholia (2009) |
most viewed articles
current edition
Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies - Sala Apolo, Barcelona, 29/11/2023 and La Paqui, Madrid, 30/11/2023Anthony Phillips - Interview
Difford and Tilbrook - Difford and Tilbrook
Rain Parade - Interview
Oldfield Youth Club - Interview
Autumn 1904 - Interview
Shaw's Trailer Park - Interview
Cafe No. 9, Sheffield and Grass Roots Venues - Comment
Pete Berwick - ‘Too Wild to Tame’: The story of the Boyzz:
Chris Hludzik - Vinyl Stories
most viewed reviews
current edition
Marika Hackman - Big SighSerious Sam Barrett - A Drop of the Morning Dew
Rod Stewart and Jools Holland - Swing Fever
Loves - True Love: The Most of The Loves
Ian M Bailey - We Live in Strange Times
Paul McCartney and Wings - Band on the Run
Autumn 1904 - Tales of Innocence
Roberta Flack - Lost Takes
Banter - Heroes
Posey Hill - No Clear Place to Fall
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart