Glissandro 70 “Analogue Shantytown”

“Analogue Shantytown” (mp3) contains within its title a reference to one of the song’s influential elements, Jamaican dub. But it doesn’t end there–the track is a pastiche of repeating textures and sounds gently morphing into one another. After the streetcorner harmonica intro, there’s that Nile Rodgers guitar that pops up as the song is taking shape, scratching a rhythm into your brain before giving way to the same line played through brassy synth. Bobby McFerrin-esque high-pitched chanting then leads into what sounds like its opposite, a layered, whispered voice whispering the song’s title. Then, finally, complementary basses appear–necessary at this point to anchor this song to something, as it threatens to collapse under the weight of its own communality. It’s too purposefully patchworked to stand on the same streetcorner as, say, Messrs. Byrne and Eno, but it succeeds largely for that reason. If you enlarge the album artwork to the right, you’ll see clearly that the band visibly foregrounds its crudeness–there are so many things that somehow just need to appear, and the song does its best to allow it, without allowing the town to represent more than its individual residents.

Buy Glissandro 70 from Constellation Records here.