Skip to main contentToday's Cut isn't just one song. No, for your pre-Ash Wednesday festivities, we're giving you an entire album-length concept courtesy of Archers guitarist/vocalist Chris Cantino.
As you will hear, this is miles away from the work that Cantino does in Archers. Rather, it is like a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of the itchy rock of his band, filtered through a malfunctioning camcorder with the images broadcast through an equally malfunctioning television. Which, according to Cantino, is exactly what he was going for.
"I wanted to simulate the experience of watching television," he told me via IM. "I think the traditional album format is a disgrace to art."
To that end, the songs - such as they are, considering they are really short snippets of melodies denatured to the near breaking point - bleed into one another, soldered together with static and interjections from foreign TV broadcasts. Keen ears will spot bits of cover songs smearing into your field of vision as well - Television's "Days", Richard Hell's "Time", and a quick slap of a Malkmus tune.
This is a daring piece of pop artistry by someone who maintains a comfortable dual existence as (in his words) a "punky slacker guy" and a lover of outre sounds from around the globe. Both sides of Cantino's musical personality are evident throughout CCTV and it adds up to a sumptuous feast of sound and incident.
WWeek 2015