Thinking Plague - The Echoes of Their Cries (2017)

El Mago Alberto recarga los cartuchos y se lanza en busca del excelente RIO de esta banda yanky, que en sus 35 años de historia ha entregado una visión norteamericana del Rock in Opossition, fusionándolo con folk, música de cámara y la tradición avant-garde de la música clásica del siglo XX. Un discazo que estará en el listado de los mejores discos del 2017, se los digo por adelantado. Maravíllense con este deslumbrante trabajo.

Artista: Thinking Plague

Álbum: The Echoes of Their Cries
Año: 2017
Género: RIO / Avant-Prog
Nacionalidad: EEUU

Lista de Temas:
1. The Echoes of Their Cries
2. Thus Have We Made the World
3. Commuting to Murder
4. Hoping Against Hope
5. The Great Leap Backwards
6. A Dirge for the Unwitting

Alineación:
- Mike Johnson / guitar, samples, midi instruments
- Mark Harris / soprano and alto saxes, B-flat standard and bass clarinets, flute
- Dave Willey / bass, drums (5), accordion (2, 6)
- Elaine di Falco / voice, accordion, piano
- Robin Chestnut / drums, percussion
- Bill Pohl / guitar
with:
Adriana Teodoro-Dier / piano (2, 5, 6) and toy piano (2)
Simon Steensland / bass (5)
Mike Boyd: drums (2)
Kathryn Cooper / oboe (4)

Thinking Plague, uno de los referentes más imponentes de la tradición rock-in-opposition de los Estados Unidos, vuelve al ruedo con otro gran disco. La banda es una de las máximas encarnaciones actuales del movimiento progresivo RIO, siendo incluso refrendado por uno de sus más notables ideólogos de este movimiento; me refiero al baterista de Henry Cow y Art Bears: Chris Cutler. 

La agrupación liderada por el guitarrista Mike Johnson actualmente está formada por el mismo Mike Johnson en guitarra, samples e instrumentos midi; Mark Harris en saxos alto y soprano, clarinetes y flauta; Dave Willey en bajo, batería y acordeón; Elaine di Falco en voz, acordeón y piano; Robin Chestnut en batería y percusión y Bill Pohl en guitarra, a quienes se les suman numerosos invitados.
Somos unos de los primeros que reseñamos este disco a nivel mundial, en realidad lo reseña el Mago Alberto con estas sencillas pero emotivas palabras:

Esta clase de proyectos musicales, y en estos tiempos de velocidad y frenesí, son como un balde de agua fría en pleno verano, te pega de la misma forma. Si Caro Restuccia cantara en inglés (cosa que también es probable) sería la voz de este grupo, y trazando esa analogía con el mundo de Factor Burzaco, nos encontramos con los Thinking Plage, banda de R.I.O., grossa, muy grossa, y que con esas defragmentaciones, alocadas, complejas, esos pasajes atonales típicos del R.I.O., se hacen carne propia del estilo en cuestión, aunque particularmente lo emparentaría con la fibra mas ecuménica del Avant.
Un disco repleto de buenos momentos, disco típico para dejarlo que suene solo, muchas veces, y que se vaya haciendo cargo de "tus momentos".
Un referente muy actual que llega para inundar algunas cabezotas. Para degustar de a poco, un polvo para tus oídos, para cabezones/as OPEN MIND. Algunos críticos dicen que son la reencarnación de Henry Cow pero estos muchachos hace mas de 35 años que estan en ruta, contemporáneos a Cow por lo tanto han mamado de la misma teta.
En muy pocas palabras...
Un discazo!!

Mago Alberto

En fin, una locura arropada con finísimas telas y embellecida con ornamentos inteligentemente sutiles, en composiciones un tanto bizarras y "peligrosas" ejecutadas con la mayor dosis de fineza que un ensamble puede realizar, conformando la personalidad de una banda que, campeando continuamente los temporales del negocio musical y la inestabilidad de sus propias alineaciones sucesivas, demuestra que sabe mantenerse como una personalidad fuerte que se sostiene con paso firme dentro de la vanguardia musical independiente.
En este disco, la dinámica intensa de masivas disonancias, quiebres rítmicos extravagantes, recursos anti-melódicos y desgarradores desafíos armónicos hallan un cobijo impresionante en la multicolorida instrumentación y el canto elegante, es su estilo sobrio dentro de la demencia ideológica propia del RIO, con un trabajo bien organizado de texturas y ornamentos. Thinking Plague tiene suficientes dosis de imaginación y solvencia técnica como para hacer buen uso de sus influencias (Henry Cow, Art Bears, Art Zoyd, Zappa, la academia vanguardista, etc.) y generar una propuesta musical artísticamente efectiva.
Trabajo inescrutable para uno de los discos más notables del progresivo experimental actual, consolidando a Thinking Plague como un clásico contemporáneo del RIO. Imperdible!

The notion of progressive rock often suggests the melding of rock with some elements of jazz or jazz fusion, due to extended song forms and an emphasis on instrumental prowess. Thinking Plague sets itself apart from most other arty rock bands in that it draws from other areas outside of rock to forge its identity, primarily in the extended composition techniques often associated with classical. It’s the hallmark of this band from its start in 1982 and the lone remaining founding member Mike Johnson is responsible for a symphonic approach to songwriting that has become almost a forgotten art anywhere near the realm of rock. His band is sort of a reincarnation of Henry Cow.
Maybe because these kind of songs take time to flesh out, Thinking Plague has issued only seven albums in that thirty-five year period, with its seventh one Hoping Against Hope released February 10, 2017, and like every one since the fourth one In Extremist (1998), under the Cuneiform label banner.
Thinking Plague is in its current configuration a six-piece band: joining Johnson and his guitar, samples and midi instruments are stalwarts Mark Harris (reeds and flute) and Dave Wiley (bass), as well as Elaine di Falco (voice, accordion and piano) and Robin Chestnut (drums and percussion). The newest addition is Bill Pohl, who adds a second guitar to the group for the first time in its history. That tweaks the dynamic of the music in favor of a stronger rock element, but nothing is diminished on the non-rock side of things, so what results is music that packs a little more punch. Meanwhile, more acoustic instrumentation — some provided by guest musicians — bolsters the classical and folk ingredients.
Johnson originally conceived Hoping Against Hope as an album that’s more uplifting and positive than it actually turned out, but political events of 2016 which I don’t need to explain here had turned the mood from “things are looking up” to “things don’t look so sporty right now but don’t lose hope.” Thus, it’s a (experimental) rock opera, but one with darker hues.
The anti-militarism communiqués “The Echoes of Their Cries” and “Commuting to Murder” gets their messages out through di Falco’s vocal which comes off more as sung poetry, which suits the mood and structure of songs like these better. The former is constructed around a bass figure between the beats with lyrics that become one with harmony by syncopating with that bass figure. In between are some knotty interplay among guitar, clarinet and accordion (uncommon in rock, indeed). “Murder” follows the stanzas with instrumental passages that straddle the line between yearning and despair and an uneasy guitar figure that pervades the entire song.
“Thus Have We Made the World” is an instrumental that’s played with the fine precision of a Swiss watch, with a current of avant-classical competing against rock, now reinforced with the presence of that second guitar. It’s fun to hear four or five instruments plays on parallel courses and rush in together in harmonic unison, jarring tempo shifts that signal the start of a new virtual movement.
The semi-dissonant folk chord sequence that launches “Hoping Against Hope” soon moves through several sections that might be technically complex but it’s really about imparting a feeling of trying to stay optimistic in darker times. The doom march of “The Great Leap Backwards” culminates into a dramatic, near-free climax. Much of the ‘dirge’ from “A Dirge For the Unwitting” comes courtesy of di Falco’s accordion, which was recorded in such a way as to sound more like an accordion section, throwing off a sonic thickness approaching that of a church pipe organ.
Like other Thinking Plague efforts, Hoping Against Hope uses uber sophisticated song-smithing and arrangements to get across straightforward messages. Only this time, the message — and thus the music — is a bit more urgent.

S. Victor Aaron

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