Thursday, December 15, 2005

5ive Style

10 years ago various members of Chicago's post rock scene got together to record as 5ive Style. Tortoise drummer John Herndon and bassist LeRoy Bach (Wilco) were augmented by guitarist Bill Dolan (Heroic Doses) and keyboardist Jeremy Jacobsen (Lonesome Organist), and the resulting self-titled mini album was produced by John McEntire and Casey Rice. That's some serious Chi-town music mojo at work. The music is a bit more light hearted and funky than you might expect, and even touches on a bit of jam band spirit in places. I've always loved it's vibe - low key, lots of cool guitars and a hefty helping of quirk. Deep Marsh is rifftastic, with loads of noodly guitars and the sound of a tea kettle whistle blowing through the whole thing. I like how it goes all blues-y at the end. Outta Space Canoe Race is spongy space funk - an almost reggae vibe permeates, with a fat beat, fuzzy bass, jammy guitars and big rock organ. I hadn't played this in a while and had forgotten how much I dug it. They followed this up with another record, 2000's Miniature Portraits, but it failed to live up to my expectations.

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