Search - Bruce Anderson, Dale Sophiea :: Medication

Even if...

Pharoah S. Wail | Inner Space | 12/08/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"...you're generally a fan of Bruce, I would skip this disc if I were you. Had I had a bunch of chances to hear it beforehand, I never would have bought it.



I bought this disc a couple years ago because I had always loved his disc from '97 or '98 I guess it was... Strict. This being more-or-less the same type of band, I was thinking it may be even better than Strict, since they had presumably had more time together and were maybe delving deeper into some of the Strict ideas. How wrong I was.



If I had to sum it up in just a brief snip, I'd say that Medication is somewhat similar to Space by the Grateful Dead on a night where Space wasn't very good. The band here is Bruce Anderson - bass, Jim Hrabetin - guitar, Dave Mahoney & Marc Weinstein - drums, and Dale Sophiea - samples.



Also, if you have Strict, you know that it wasn't the most magnificently recorded album of the '90s. Medication is more of the same, but since the overall feel of this disc is more digital, it seems very flat and dry. There is a reason why I can listen to Charley Patton's Paramounts and love them. One of those reasons is that even though Paramount recorded him badly, acoustic (and/or at least analog) instruments and tones have a fullness to them... a depth, a roundness... at least they do in the hands of tone-masters. But digital... digital is dry and lifeless if not done correctly, or if poorly recorded. This whole disc is flat.



Of this, Medication by O-Type (still more-or-less this same band), and Strict, the only one you should buy is Strict. It stands head-and-shoulders above all the other discs in this series of musical cousins"