Animal Hospital

Memory (03.09, BARGE Records)

For: Birchville Cat Motel, Silver Antlers, Chaz Prymek

Byline: The aural equivalent of watching old super 8 wedding footage that you found in the attic of long dead family members. Incredibly beautiful.

I know that this is waaay after the fact, but I am still hoping that for some of you Animal Hospital's Memory is a new experience. I initially read about Kevin Micka in an awesome Forest Gospel review (if you want an excellent song by song break down, seriously, read this article), and then after picking up his other amazing 2009 release Good or Plenty, Streets + Avenues on Mutable Sound and being really impressed by it, Kevin Micka kind of floated away from my consciousness. It wasn't until I realized that I had special ordered this album at a local record store a half year ago that I began my another Animal Hospital obsession. Memory is released by Barge recordings, that as a rule, only puts out killer recordings, as such their releases are insanely selective. Their last release previous to Memory was 2008's drone masterpiece Baby, It's Cold Inside by the Fun Years. This is their latest.

Animal Hospital is known for looping guitar drones that weave around each other like two snakes while a bees nest of electronic and vocal manipulation buzz beneath the surface. On Memory Kevin Micka takes a similar approach, the opener "Good Times" begins with a delicate music box before giving way to a mournful guitar line reminiscent of SLC guitar hero Chaz Prymek's nomadic wanderings. "His Belly Burst", which I argue is the stylistic palette for the entire album, starts with a Warren Ellis like bowed Cello as Kevin Micka lays down a thick layer of electronic resonance. About half way through the 17 min. track Micka's guitar work gets intense. A repeated plucked cello, later joined by a repeated electric guitar chord that reminds me of Birchville Cat Motel's viscous breakdown of a single Iron Maiden riff in his epic "Drawn through Chanting Chords". This is about as heavy and intense as acoustic music can get. Although not as terrifying as Kingdom Shore.

After 3 more heavy hitters, including the albums only track with vocals "And Ever" we are treated to a delicious 4 minute segue. "A Safe Place" starts with a host of electronic percussion before totally surrendering to an incredibly beautiful guitar line and some looped wordless vocals. These are moments that send chills up my spine. The closer title track "Memory" is a rumination on everything experienced this far. Bottomless low-end frequencies run deep below the track while an acoustic guitar and looped vocal lines float down the slip stream. Micka useful percussion in this track consist of simply hand claps and the hollow body of an acoustic guitar. Beautiful stuff here. The album closes with a looped cello line that would make Arvo Part proud.

So, I know I didn't really give this album justice. Trying to describe something like this without telling how it made you feel is pointless. You can disregard all of my attempts to try and capture what this album sounds like and just know that listening to this album is the equivalent of watching an old super 8 wedding footage of long dead family members. Or finding a piece of paper in the street with your name on it. By far one of the most emotionally relevant pieces I have heard all year.

Ryan H.

Animal Hospital

Good or Plenty, Streets + Avenues (02.09, Mutable Sound)

Byline: Fully fleshed out orchestrated drones from brilliant multi-instrumentalist Kevin Micka.

For: Aidan Baker, Amplifier Machine, Eluvium

Besides being a frequent cause for derision from my fiance, music that falls into the "ambient-drone" category is a staple for me. It lends itself to heavy headphone affairs in which I can be completely lost in washes of synths and looped guitar distortion to a diligent companion to late night War and Peace read-a-thons with Addy. The only downside is that when I hear an amazing instrumental album I immediately get a sense of sadness once the giddiness goes away, I think, when am I going to listen to this again? When can I recapture the thrill of the first time I heard this? The good thing about bands that fall into the ambient drone camp is that they always retain a sense of "newness" at every listen, without recognizable hooks or melodies each song is a limitless resource of sounds and musical ideas that gather weight with each listen. Animal Hospital's Good or Plenty is an album in which every song is as fresh and exciting as it was on first listen (as exciting as an ambient drone album can be). is a remarkable recording full of sunny, beautifully recorded instrumental forays into sound and texture. Kevin Micka is a masterful sound manipulator, taking seemingly standard song arrangements of guitars, drums, turntables, hand claps and the human voice and creates looping soundscapes that are rife with discovery. Never giving into the temptation to let his wanderings turn into an irrelevant wad of noise, Micka lets his instruments prop up each song giving them of a depth of a fully fleshed out pop song. His layers of shiny guitar washes over processed feedback and manipulation put him in the ranks of Aidan Baker and Christian Fennez, while his aural dexterity and dedication to creating beautiful soundscapes recall a Talk Amongst the Trees era Matthew Cooper.  Good or Plenty is what I am guessing is a companion to his full length put out on the amazing Barge Records earlier this year, I'm guessing they both go in my list of favorite instrumental albums of the year.

Download: March and June