From: Automatic digest processor To: Recipients of SOMMS digests Subject: SOMMS Digest - 21 Feb 1999 to 23 Feb 1999 Date: Tuesday, February 23, 1999 1:58 AM There is one message totalling 58 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. my wwc review To UNSUBSCRIBE from SOMMS, send email to LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU with the following in the body of your message: SIGNOFF SOMMS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 18:11:05 EST From: Niki Freer Subject: my wwc review hey sommsters, wrote a wwc review for the college paper i write for....i like to have fun with these things. let me know what you guys think. let me know if you care. thanks! :) Wellwater Conspiracy - Brotherhood of Electric (operational directives, vol 1.) niki freer Matt Cameron has been a busy man these past years since Soundgarden broke up. He recorded studio tracks with the Smashing Pumpkins, joined Pearl Jam for their entire US tour and played on their Christmas single, and made yet another satisfying Wellwater Conspiracy record with his partner John McBain (ex-Monster Magnet). A fantastic successor to their debut Declaration of Conformity (1997), Brotherhood of Electric (operational directives, vol. 1) embarks on an entire new landscape of spacey riffs and swirling vocals. Despite the loss of main vocalist Ben Shepherd (ex-Soundgarden, Desert Sessions), Wellwater's showcasing of the talented Josh Homme (Queens of the Stoneage, ex-Kyuss) among a slew of others, takes Electric into an eclectic dreamscape. Dark minimalist liner artwork promising that the Brotherhood of Electric controls everything and will soon call for you to join adds to the paranormal, X-Files feel of the music. Opening with a fifty-second organ piece sounding like an ode to a funeral home, Electric then kicks into the first single, "Compellor." Cameron, having to take over lead vocals after the departure of Shepherd, shines on this track. His soft, sometimes out-of-key vocals compliment the tinny rocking of the guitars and fuzzed out keyboard. "Born With a Tail" is a laid back song, extremely reminiscent of Pink Floyd. Driving and dancing, the 60s influence on the Wellwater Conspiracy is blatant in "Good Pushin'." Garage noise music and Homme's vocals make "Ladder to the Moon" sound uncannily like Beck's best material from his indie records. "B.O.U." is a classic example of the mixing of "stoner rock" and 60s affinity, one their best treks into psychedelia. The sludge with pop twinges in "Van Vanishing" and the melodic "Red Light Green Light" captures yet more facets of Wellwater's amoebae-like music. Brotherhood of Electric is darker and more sonically frightening than Declaration of Conformity, with haunting intermissions like "Destination 24" and "Dark Passage" that moan with vocals from the underworld and possessed synthesizers. It wouldn't be a good idea to listen to this while sleeping, especially with the nightmarish warnings of "Do you see that man on the corner? He is looking at you. Turn away. He is one of us," in the liner notes. Maybe they were shooting for campy humor, but the combination of music and art is enough to make Marilyn Manson want his mommy. ------------------------------ End of SOMMS Digest - 21 Feb 1999 to 23 Feb 1999 ************************************************