Search - Paik :: Satin Black

Detroit Sludge. Could it get any more beautiful than that?

ShawnJ | Ann Arbor, MI | 03/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is not for everyone. It is not for people who want catchy lyrics, cute vocals, or dance beats. It is for people who want music that will tear them to pieces. It is for people who want music that will devestate them. It is for people who want music that speaks directly from the music, instead of the cola company behind them.



Satin Black is the fourth album from Detriot trio Paik, and it is one doozy of an album. Consisting of five tracks, this album will take you on a journey through mountains of twisted steel, soot-filled lungs, and dusty breezes. The music is dense, complex, and brutal, and yet beautiful and melodic at the same time.



Of the tracks on the album, Dirt for Driver stands alone. With its tricky time signatures, catchy hook, and gritty yet wispy lead guitar, the song moves like an engine through waves of feedback and precise drumming. It is not the most beautiful track on the album (That's Dizzy Stars), but it is the most impressive.



I can not recommend this album any higher. It is something that I will treasure for years to come.



Oh, and if you get a chance, absolutely see this band live. Their visual effects (video, lights, smoke, etc) are something to behold, and the music sounds better live."

Visceral and Raw

Nathan B. Hyatt | San Francisco | 05/04/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The noise is so dense it takes many listens to fully penetrate Paik's outstanding fourth album, Satin Black. Gracefully, the first track is the most melodic, with a simple guitar arpeggio repeating while the chugging bass grooves below; then the change hits and all bets are off. At first the distortion was so thick I couldn't hear what that first change actually WAS, but after a couple listens the music underneath the noise started to reveal itself to me. The highlight is the centerpiece, the title track in fact, which has a wailing melody reminiscent of ghosts rising up from a steaming pond, vainly struggling to escape this earth. I swear you've never heard a more sinister tone. Long have the spirits of dead pirates lay trapped in Spanish galleons at the bottom of the Atlantic.



The second half of the album turns from the dark grooves towards a more ambient ball of sound that rolls and uncoils and mutates as it rumbles forward. As always, distortion leads the way. This album is for fans of instrumental music with lots of white noise layered on top of increasingly complex melodies; the work appears deceptively simple until you dig through the blankets and find the bed, but the wait is worth it. Just like your virginity, boys and girls."