Album Review: Fake Hospital

Never Use the Same Door Twice (Self-released)

[DUNGEON JAZZ] As a member of Million Brazilians, Grant Corum helps listeners and band members alike reach ecstatic heights with a dark, saxophone-laden sound the group calls "dungeon jazz."

For his first solo effort under the name Fake Hospital, Corum has removed jazz from the equation (or at the very least reduced it to an Actuel Records-catalog-as-remixed-by-Coil simmer). What remains is a creepy, daring and resplendent work that would have made a great soundtrack to keep trick-or-treaters at bay were it released at this time last month.

The two side-long tracks that make up Never Use the Same Door Twice (the LP is being released on vinyl and cassette only, thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign) bring together acoustic and electronic sounds ranging from woodwind instruments and hand drums to a biofeedback machine and a machete.

Using them, Corum constructs a mind-melting psychopharmacological vision wherein rhythms and melodies ooze into and out of focus. And when those signposts disappear, a gentle drone or spacey bit of heavily processed saxophone or trumpet slides right in to take their place.

There are movements to it that could be boiled down to individual tracks, but, like a good LSD trip, you are much better off not trying to force any strictures upon Never Use. You're far better off letting the music unfold on its own terms. 


SEE IT:
Fake Hospital plays the Ella Street Lounge, 714 SW 20th Place, on Monday, Nov. 28, with Monopoly Child Star Searchers, White Gourd and Tenses. 10 pm. $5. 21+

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