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Moshe · 10.04.2007, 07:27 AM

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/articl...iew/45781-boss

Magik Markers
BOSS
[Ecstatic Peace; 2007]
Rating: 7.5

Despite their long list of releases, Magik Markers have up to now been more compelling live than on record. Even on their best discs, the highs of their free-ranging noise-rock have come with meandering, sometimes off-putting lows. By contrast, the live act of guitarist and singer Elisa Ambrogio and drummer Pete Nolan is constantly fascinating. Their commanding stage presence steamrolls over musical gaps that, without the visceral visuals, might stick out awkwardly on record.
So it figures that, to make an album that holds attention the way their shows do, Magik Markers would have to channel their rambling spontaneity into more conventional tunes. What's so great about BOSS is that even though it is more structured and song-oriented than any previous effort, the band's fiery, scraggly approach remains intact. Paradoxically, by restricting their options (and, coincidentally, losing bassist Leah Quimby), the band has made its music even more open and free.
Such discipline has also made Magik Markers' sound more diverse. Their improv-based records sometimes got stuck in a narrow range of noises, but while BOSS may be a bona-fide rock album, there's lots of different stuff happening here: straight up rockers, punk rants, country-ish acoustics, and even an aching piano ballad. And each has an energy and authority that matches the band's live show.
That said, BOSS isn't a complete split from the band's past. They have veered toward straight rock in the midst of some of their noise jams before, and many tracks here evoke the post-Sonic Youth clang of 2005's I Trust My Guitar Etc. But there's definitely something new going on, and most of it comes from the seductive voice and lyrics of Ambrogio. She's always been a deserving attention-getter, but here her talents seem wider and sharper. Her singing primarily evokes Patti Smith, as do her words, which deftly use rhyme to build intangible meaning. For example, on "Taste" she varies her choruses with tantalizing off-rhymes-- "He had tasted her, tasted her/ Smiled right into the base of her/ He kept racing her, racing her/ And stayed alive; outpacing her"-- while her guitar and Nolan's simple drumming seem to rhyme in turn.
"Taste" may be BOSS's most memorable track, but highlights abound. Opener "Axis Mundi" rises from initial guitar noise into a chugging swing, while "Last of the Lemach Line" sways hypnotically as Ambrogio intones with increasing desperation. Later, Nolan contributes primal piano chords to Amborgio's Cat Power-ish croon on "Empty Bottles", mixing nicely with the glockenspiel of producer Lee Ranaldo. Ranaldo also adds a layer of guitar fire to the manic "Body Rot", which sounds like a punked-out take on Rhys Chatham's minimal trance-rocker "Drastic Classicism".
BOSS stumbles just slightly at its end. The noise essay "Pat Garrett" never really gathers steam, while closer "Circle" comes off as a thinner version of "Lemach Line". But sandwiched in between is the stellar "Bad Dream/Hartford's Beat Suite", a haunting tale of bloody pockets and severed thumbs that approaches the chill of a Johnny Cash tune. Such a comparison might be surprising, but then BOSS is bound to rearrange a lot of people's perceptions of this potent duo.
-Marc Masters, October 04, 2007

10.04.2007, 07:27 AM	#146
Moshe Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 5,865	http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/articl...iew/45781-boss Magik Markers BOSS [Ecstatic Peace; 2007] Rating: 7.5 Despite their long list of releases, Magik Markers have up to now been more compelling live than on record. Even on their best discs, the highs of their free-ranging noise-rock have come with meandering, sometimes off-putting lows. By contrast, the live act of guitarist and singer Elisa Ambrogio and drummer Pete Nolan is constantly fascinating. Their commanding stage presence steamrolls over musical gaps that, without the visceral visuals, might stick out awkwardly on record. So it figures that, to make an album that holds attention the way their shows do, Magik Markers would have to channel their rambling spontaneity into more conventional tunes. What's so great about BOSS is that even though it is more structured and song-oriented than any previous effort, the band's fiery, scraggly approach remains intact. Paradoxically, by restricting their options (and, coincidentally, losing bassist Leah Quimby), the band has made its music even more open and free. Such discipline has also made Magik Markers' sound more diverse. Their improv-based records sometimes got stuck in a narrow range of noises, but while BOSS may be a bona-fide rock album, there's lots of different stuff happening here: straight up rockers, punk rants, country-ish acoustics, and even an aching piano ballad. And each has an energy and authority that matches the band's live show. That said, BOSS isn't a complete split from the band's past. They have veered toward straight rock in the midst of some of their noise jams before, and many tracks here evoke the post-Sonic Youth clang of 2005's I Trust My Guitar Etc. But there's definitely something new going on, and most of it comes from the seductive voice and lyrics of Ambrogio. She's always been a deserving attention-getter, but here her talents seem wider and sharper. Her singing primarily evokes Patti Smith, as do her words, which deftly use rhyme to build intangible meaning. For example, on "Taste" she varies her choruses with tantalizing off-rhymes-- "He had tasted her, tasted her/ Smiled right into the base of her/ He kept racing her, racing her/ And stayed alive; outpacing her"-- while her guitar and Nolan's simple drumming seem to rhyme in turn. "Taste" may be BOSS's most memorable track, but highlights abound. Opener "Axis Mundi" rises from initial guitar noise into a chugging swing, while "Last of the Lemach Line" sways hypnotically as Ambrogio intones with increasing desperation. Later, Nolan contributes primal piano chords to Amborgio's Cat Power-ish croon on "Empty Bottles", mixing nicely with the glockenspiel of producer Lee Ranaldo. Ranaldo also adds a layer of guitar fire to the manic "Body Rot", which sounds like a punked-out take on Rhys Chatham's minimal trance-rocker "Drastic Classicism". BOSS stumbles just slightly at its end. The noise essay "Pat Garrett" never really gathers steam, while closer "Circle" comes off as a thinner version of "Lemach Line". But sandwiched in between is the stellar "Bad Dream/Hartford's Beat Suite", a haunting tale of bloody pockets and severed thumbs that approaches the chill of a Johnny Cash tune. Such a comparison might be surprising, but then BOSS is bound to rearrange a lot of people's perceptions of this potent duo. -Marc Masters, October 04, 2007
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