>>PREVIEW
BLACK DICE
Saturday, October 1
The Hifi Club
Black Dice have made an art form out of confounding expectations. Rising out of the Providence, Rhode Island school of noise (led by fellow expats Lightning Bolt), the fellows in Black Dice somehow found their way onto this decade’s hottest dance label, James Murphy’s DFA.
When EMI bought DFA, Black Dice were carried along in the deal, making them one of the least likely major label groups in recent memory. As amazing as they are alienating, Black Dice’s new album, Broken Ear Record, keeps the noise in place, but develops the beat-driven ideas first presented on their debut DFA 12-inch "Cone Toaster," making Black Dice the strangest dance band in history.
Vocalist (although considering how little singing he actually does, that’s a bit of a misnomer) Eric Copeland is just as confused as we are about Black Dice’s place on the majors – most especially how much they’ve been left to their own devices by the bigwigs at EMI. It hasn’t changed anything except that our records are more expensive," he says.
"Mostly it’s been hands-off, but I don’t know if that changes when something bad happens. Even for the cover art, I did have my fingers crossed. I didn’t know if they’d actually go for it." The cover features a close-up of a stripper bent over above a rainbow flag with "b d" written on her butt-cheeks.
As for the album itself, Broken Ear Record offers a surprise first listen (as all Black Dice records do) in comparison to their earlier full-lengths, Beaches & Canyons (glorious noise) and Creature Comforts (watery distortion). Recorded in Byron Bay, Australia, Broken Ear Record is Black Dice’s first album as a three-piece following the animosity-fuelled departure of drummer Hisham Bharoocha. Odd then that it’s also their most straightforward beat-oriented release to date, an at-times brilliant noise-dance record created without the use of actual drums at all.
Pulling Black Dice away from its previous freeform noise parameters was an intentional change made primarily in the face of live performance. Surely, building their brand of noise palettes gets tired after a full year on the road. "We had a schedule in mind for the year and knew we’d be playing a lot. It’s kind of like the first time we thought back to being a physical band again and to me it’s like, ‘I like that stuff, but I don’t want to keep doing it in that way.’ I want a show to be fun for people who aren’t heavy on drugs and heavy into out-there music. I like feeling like I’m playing music instead of making it."
It’s a bit of a strange concept – the happy noise band. But here they are, Black Dice Mach II. And Copeland looks forward to wherever they’re headed next.
"Last year was a bummer with lots of difficult things. Having to start our band again with one less person felt kind of tough, and we thought we should just go somewhere that would be nice and see if we can work it and not just worry about it. I’m pretty surprised the whole way through — even just with the music that I make I feel like I’m always just excited and surprised that anybody likes it. It’s never been a goal to do anything more than just continue." |
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