aaamusic | On 08, Jun 2010

On first hearing Music For The Fire, you’d be forgiven for being a little taken aback. The product of a collaboration between audio collage artists Vicki Bennett (otherwise known as People Like Us) and Jon Leidecker (aka Wobbly), the album is, in essence, the story of a relationship, told through various recordings of speech, song, and general noise. However, Bennett and Leidecker’s decision to merge otherwise unrelated audio footage means the record becomes less of a linear story and more of a series of captured moments – pinpointing a clear ‘narrative’ linking the tracks can be difficult. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though, and actually serves to make a sometimes inaccessible record easier to relate to as a listener, as universal experiences such as heartbreak and the family are explored.

The music itself is incredibly varied, ranging from slow and atmospheric to manic and incoherent, often within the same song. The opening track, Fiction, begins calmly enough, slowly growing in tone and volume until its final moments, at which point it has transformed into something a lot more unsettling. This pretty much sums up the album’s sound – often erratic and always aiming to defy expectations. Bennett and Leidecker layer sound upon sound in each track, whether they ‘fit’ well together or not, resulting in a very unique and often bizarre record. Hello is a prime example of this – a reworked and sped-up version of Lionel Richie’s Hello interspersed with various other voices and sounds.

Though the record features hundreds of different sounds, a voice that seems to pop up throughout is that of 1950s suburban America. Although this may sound like an odd choice, it actually fits well with the feel of the record, and is used to alternately creepy and amusing effects, as evident in Naked Little Girl, Pick Up, and Okay. Jazz, country and classical music appear at various points too, ensuring the album’s sound avoids repetition. In the final track, Pain, an archetypal American voice informs us that ‘nothing succeeds in this world’, surrounded by yodelling, operatic voices and what appear to be cats on helium. The song itself is what you might imagine a mental breakdown sounds like – Music For The Fire is nothing if not original.

It would be a lie to say Music For The Fire is easy listening – its experimental nature definitely won’t appeal to everyone, and at times it can be a little bit too challenging for its own good. Fans of conceptual art will appreciate the record’s originality and Bennett and Leidecker’s obvious efforts in producing the album – never once does the record seem confused about what ideas are being explored, and remains compelling throughout. Listeners looking for a simple album should steer clear, as the record gets very weird, very often. But if you have an open mind and a penchant for music that pushes boundaries, you should give Music For The Fire a listen.

Author: Katharine Sparks