CLXXV. Autumnfair | 1986 - 1989

AUTUMNFAIR

1986 - 1989

©Mobilization. US, 2002.

‟Autumnfair is a side project formed in the mid 1980s by Savage Republic vocalist/guitarist/bass player Thom Fuhrmann along with british bassist/singer Val Haller (Wayne County). Autumnfair worked with several Los Angeles underground notables, including Savage Republic bassist Greg Grunke, Biff Sanders (Motiv Studios, Ethyl Meatplow), Scott Feemster (Halo) and Caroline Topalian (supplying transendent vocals).

Autumnfair has an expansive and dramatic "Factory Records/4AD" sound. The project mixes drum machines, live drums, multiple basses, reverberant soaring guitars and powerful, dramatic vocals. These beautiful songs are haunting, evocative and chilling.

The tracks are a mixture of vocal and instrumental. A 10" EP was released in the 1990s by Independent Project Records, entitled Glaciers and Gods.‟

Mobilization

CLXV. For Against | Echelons

FOR AGAINST

Echelons

©Words On Music. US, 2004.

‟Available for the first time on CD! Echelons is the debut album by Nebraska's For Against, first released in 1987 for Independent Project. The album blends Factory Records atmospherics with the aggressive jangle of early R.E.M., juxtaposed against the earnest and isolated voice of Jeffrey Runnings. These elements conjoin to set the definitive image of the depth, vastness, and loneliness of America's sparse heartland.

Several songs on Echelons ("Echelons," "Forget Who You Are," "Broke My Back") perfectly capture the dark colorings of early Factory Records. The title track is replete with jagged, rusty guitar chords, painting gray and black trails onto which Runnings travels while reiterating the cautiously optimistic refrain, "Someone somewhere waits for me." The finale "Broke My Back" is a 7-minute anthem with shadowy chords and Runnings' boldly minimalist bassline — creating an atmosphere so bleak and compelling you can almost picture Martin Hannett behind the mixing console.

"Autocrat" weaves guitarist Harry Dingman's Gang of Four-inspired choppy, but ingeniously precise feedback and chord stabs through drummer Greg Hill and bassist Runnings' punchy, but solid rhythm section. Runnings wryly captures the song's essence with a repetitive one-line vocal melody: "Yeah, that's right, that's the way it is."

Other material ("Shine," "Get On With It") asserts the janglier elements of early 80s Athens rock, led by Dingmans' Peter-Buck-with-a-reverb-box melodies and Hill's lightning-quick drum patterns. All nine songs are distinctly identified by Runnings' clear, gliding timbre — a striking counterpoint to the dimly lit music supporting him.

One of the definitive American post-punk albums, Echelons was celebrated with a Grammy nomination for its remarkable cover design by Bruce Licher (a shaft of wheat accompanied each record sleeve in its initial 1,000 copy letter press run). This re-release is remastered with a six-panel digipak design by Licher.‟

Words On Music

 

XXVIII. Savage Republic | Ceremonial

SAVAGE REPUBLIC
Ceremonial

©Independent Project. US, 1985.

‟Ceremonial started with "Andelusia", which sounded completely different to the beastly Tragic Figures; this was driving post-punk that went back to Joy Division for inspiration. What was different was the desire for soloing by both the guitar and the keyboards, which treated the rhythmic backbone as a canvas on top of which they "painted" an atmosphere. Symphonic "atmosphere" and melody also prevailed in "Walking Backwards", though the pounding post-punk rhythm was also ever present. Truth be told this didn't sound very different to the gothic-rock of bands like The March Violets. "A Thousand Days" confirmed the method: get a melody, apply it in a pounding rhythm, and then jam along it's confines. A new facet was finally shown in "Mediterranea", which was ethnic and more luminous psychedelic.

So far, so good, but unspectacular. "Ceremonial" increased the duration and thus the space for the guitar and keyboard to engage in acrobatic jamming; they didn't disappoint, but they didn't offer anything new either. The 9-minute "The Year Of Exile" sort of did (at first), by going back to the ethnic psychedelia of "Mediterranea" and viewing it from a more manic angle, but then it soon reverted to their usual atmospheric gothic-rock; they also came the closest here to the tribal dementia of Tragic Figures in the penultimate leg of the track, whereas the last leg slowed down and wallowed in one of their symphonic themes.

Let's be honest here, this is a vastly inferior album to the debut, and also a confused one, but because Savage Republic are so talented performers it makes up for it. Barely.‟
 

Ily