Pivot Clowj
Artist: Pivot Clowj
Label: Flaming Fish Music
Length: 14 tracks / 63:54 minutes
Flaming Fish searches far and wide to find the best in edgy electronic
and industrial music made by Christians. I generally find its offerings
highly evocative. This one, however, falls short of the label's normal
caliber of artist.
Pivot Clowj is a duo from Orange County, California, who are able
to pack an expansive musical array under the industrial-electronica umbrella.
With a broad arsenal of equipment and instrumentation, much of it home-made,
they cover a lot of ground. This album ranges from highly danceable synth-pop
to haunting high-tech brooding.
Overall, the lyrics are not overwhelmingly striking, but they certainly
resonate with human experience. I found "Me Minus You" particularly meaningful
because it speaks thoughtfully of breakdown in relationship, an all too
frequent circumstance in this world. Pivot Clowj's strength is not in imagery
so much as in narrative, be it about life situations, imagined conversations,
or internal thought processes.
The main stumbling block here seems to be a lack of passion. The
sweet irony that draws me to electronica and industrial is its ability
to reach deep into my humanity. Pivot Clowj does not appear to have latched
onto this quality.
Melody lines drone on, often consisting of just two pitches. Vocals
do not generally sound as though they are invested with much emotion. Songs
go on for too long, using the same loops, beating the life out of themselves
by excessive repetition. Most tracks do not suffer from all these problems
simultaneously, but they all seem to leave listeners feeling a little hollow.
The opening number, "Only," presages the rest of the album. Its
progressive buildup is promising, but it leaves off before reaching a satisfactory
climax. It features one of the strongest vocals of the CD, musically speaking,
but even that barely registers a real heartbeat. The lyrics are suited
well to the mood, speaking longingly of a transformation that only God
in love can bring.
One of the stronger cuts, "Love in vain," is a well-developed, danceable
song, with enough sonic variation to keep me interested. Yet it still can
stand to be cut by a minute and a half. The lack of melody is tolerable
because of the instrumental strength, and because it suits the lyrical
theme of interpersonal alienation.
Some tracks are downright annoying, generally due to maddening loops.
A few just seem pointless and uninteresting. But one standout piece, the
last track on the album, demonstrates that this band need not fall prey
to the ills that plague much of the rest of their music. This song, "Mind
on a String," is a live recording of voice and piano, and it pulls off
quite well what drum machines and sequencers fail to do. It draws on the
heart of the listener, with a strong yet quirky melody and chord structure.
If these guys can incorporate more of what makes "Mind on a String"
succeed into the rest of their work, they will be quite a prize in the
Flaming Fish lineup.
Titi Ala'ilima (6/24/99)
