Fool’s Gold Brings The Fresh International
An Intersection of Sounds from West Africa to Israel
Fool's Gold
Fool's Gold
Released on Sep 29, 2009
Fool’s Gold, an LA-based multinational
collective led by Luke Top and guitarist Lewis Pesacov, includes an
Argentinian pop star and a Brazillian/Mexican visual artist, not to
mention six or so other members banging away on congas and calling back
in response to Top’s often untranslatable lyrics. Their eponymous
LP sounds like something you’d find in the International aisle of
Best Buy under “American”, every track an upbeat assortment of strings
and brass with percussive elements of unidentifiably exotic origin,
Ethiopian or Eritrean or just African in general. I’d expected
something less formulaic, perhaps more experimental, but Fool’s
Gold is still more enjoyable than 90% of what passes for pop music.
Fool’s Gold negotiate an identity between jam band and Peruvian pan flute group, without sounding too much like either, but without really staking new ground for themselves. Just about every track follows the same formula; the album is less an LP populated with singles than variations on a single theme. “Ha Dvash” sounds like mystical, pseudo-Far East psychedelia; “The World Is All There Is”, despite the titular allusion to Tractatus, is less concerned with words and things than just singing, I think: Top’s Hebrew robs the lyrics of any meaning for the uninitiated listener, but maybe that’s part of the point.
Predictably, the best tracks on the album get away from the familiar formula. “Night Dancing” is all wicked instrumental, stripped of the choral elements that elsewhere define the album’s sound. The track moves fast and low, like an entire hillside scenery is flying by underfoot. The word ‘horseback’ comes to mind. At the end, instead of another minute of continuous music, there’s an odd kind of crowd silence, like a group of otherwise unrelated individuals assembled for some reason. “Momentary Shelter” stands out also, like a nighttime event or gathering outdoors, where everyone attempts to exit together, but only after the sun’s come up.
Fool’s Gold are definitely doing something differently, but end up retreading many of the same sounds in their effort. Perhaps that’s the edge so much passé pop has over acts that strive to break a mold: At least embedded in the pop musician’s mold are surefire methods for executing a successful, if generic, single. Fool’s Gold is advertised as “music where something deeper and more purposeful is going on”. Whether that’s true or not, it’s certainly not what you’ll hear on Top 40 in the morning, and I think that’s a compliment.
High Point
All the uplifting energy of a hymnal, without the homily.
Low Point
Some of the freeform jam band stuff sounds awfully alike.
Posted by Diego Baez on Oct 08, 2009 @ 6:00 am
