Halfway through my first listen I couldn’t decide whether to applaud Colin Stetson for his frenetic, insane and unique sounds or pass it off as art rock garbage. If David Lynch had some kind of deep obsession with brass instruments I have to imagine that this would be the album he’d create.
Stetson’s New History Warfare - Judges Vol. 2 is literally a cacophony of sax and trumpet samples looped endlessly in an anxious swirl. There’s virtually no discernable structure or form to the songs other than the repetitive (and ultimately grating) unmelodic loops.
The usual art project staples pepper the whole album.
Nonsensical spoken word pieces? Check.
Complete absence of drums or rhythm? Check.
Eventual onset of boredom? Check.
I clearly didn’t get what Stetson set out to do with this album as my patience waned with each listen. With the exception of the cover And I Just Can’t Keep From Crying, with an actual, honest to goodness vocal melody (delivered hauntingly by Shara Worden) I took almost nothing away from this album.
I’m positive there are people who will listen to this album track by track and appreciate its uniqueness, but I’m not one of them.
Good for Stetson for trying something completely new. Bad for listeners who are looking for songs.
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