wombnet14
The new album from Chris Cook aka Same Actor aka Hot Roddy.
Sitar, various instruments, software and vocal.
"It’s the first time that I consciously tried to make music that did a bit more than just sound original or merely pleasant. I heard a neat quote from Daniel Barenboim after I had finished the record: “Music should be used not just to escape the world, but also to understand it.” This record is quite personal and I’m trying to use music to reflect on the infinite stimulus around me and on the subsequent confusion within my own 34 year old brain." Chris Cook
"wombnet isn't just about music. It's about getting what we really want. Not things...desire for things is unquenchable...it's actually the desire to express 'being' that is common to all living things, that is what we truly want. 'Self expression' we call it, but I think 'self-less expression' is more appropriate. It is an act of giving, an act of love. What we all want is for this to be received, or at least to feel that our expression is complete.
I take my time with wombnet releases, working with the artists to purify and complete their expression. I do this by listening very, very closely. Success, to me, means having a harmonious and fruitful relationship with a musician. I am certain that art born of harmonious interaction is valuable. Never before have I felt such a sense of open giving and receiving with an artist, as I have done with Chris over the creation of this album. This is a perfect record. I am very proud to have had a tiny bit to do with it's creation, and extremely proud to release it on wombnet." Peter Nelson
DOWNLOAD MP3 (89mb) DOWNLOAD FLAC (191mb)
(Lyric sheet included)
01.When I Could Love mp3 flac
02.Two Squared mp3 flac
03.The Lemniscate mp3 flac
04.The Dark Room mp3 flac
05.The Gospel According To Dale mp3 flac
06.Stay On Course mp3 flac
07.Wake Up Deaf To Sirens mp3 flac
08.Stand Up mp3 flac
09.Place Like No Home mp3 flac
10.We Have Moved mp3 flac
'The Lemniscate' at the FMA
at ARCHIVE.ORG
at SOUNDSHIVA
I asked a few people what they thought about 'The Lemniscate'.
Charlie Lewis at WFMU:
"It's a real gem."
Henry Collins aka Shitmat of Wrong Music, Planet Mu etc:
"I've rarely had any good emails lately, just spam, but yesterday I was happy to find Peter had sent me a link to Chris Cook's new album 'The Lemniscate'.
Chris Cook is a one man band from London, using a sitar, Laptop and various other instruments and percussion to create music which touches the outer limnits, but also sings true to traditional styles of the east and west.
This album is predominately vocal driven. Mood-wise it's beautiful, bleak and motivational. From The opening track, which sounds like a bizarre cover version of The Omen theme tune, you know it's going be heady and take you on a trip. 'Two Squared' has a folk feel to it but soon develops into a song about status anxiety, He sings "Take everything, take me offline, put me in a frame so big that it sets me free'" & "A breath of fresh air, not too daunting, not too dense" .. Lovely layering of vocals harmonies here, beautiful stuff .. The Gospel According To Dale pops and click's along rhythmically with cinematic piano and strange chord sequences that create an unusual atmosphere, very bleak, Made me imagine a menacing monster in the dessert coming after you.
A bit of lightness peaks it's head up 'Stay on Course' is a somewhat motivational skit, a bit more conventional than the other tracks on this album but every bit as intriguing as the others due to Chris's use of unusual melodic structure. In 'Stand up' Chris sings humbly "I should be happy with what I’ve got, Stand up and take a deep breath" then he seems to loose the plot, head falling facedown on the organ while his laptop takes over with a mind of its own. Dub beats with manic hand claps trundle along skittering and flickering, ignoring the fact that Chris's head is facedown on the organ keys. I can't help think this song deals with some frustation issues.
To sum up, this a moving and interesting album in which the once prevalent sitar takes a backseat to a voice, which sing's about the difficulties of coping with our existence but seeking positive way forward though music and ritual."
The Lemniscate by Chris Cook is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.wombnet.com.
