PRJ028 - Kellar Fulminant

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Tracklist:

  1. Transhumance
  2. Holy Towers of Tradition
  3. The Bees Keep Her
  4. Buzzards Basking
  5. Gek of the Skua
  6. Stealing the Sun
  7. Cable Titans
  8. Pylons
  9. Lunar Moth
  10. King Sea Horse
  11. The One Who Knocks
  12. Through Mantle and Core
  13. Fulminant
  14. By Sea and By Star

Format: Double CD-R
Price: £9.00
Released: February 2013
100 Copies

Andy Pyne: Drums
Dan Cross: Guitar and fx


Reviews for Fulminant

Gumshoegrove.com, March 2013

'From the sacred (ruins?) paradigm inhabited by The Black Neck Band Of The Common Loon emerges Kellar, sporting a double-CD with song lengths that are very Loon-like and jams that are anything but. Obviously with less members the idea is that there would be less clutter, right? But don't forget, a lot of the most cluttered and unthinkably fuck-zapped albums of the last few years (think Our Love Will Destroy The World) are solo or side-project affairs. So there's no basement, nor ceiling, for what's happening on Fulminant.
The duo choose to dial it a couple notches down and hone in on what could be construed as a more primal, instinctive mainframe, jamming on guitars/effects and drums in what sounds like a live setting and making few sudden moves. I'd be writing Oneida on the chalkboard right about now if I were attempting to teach Fulminant to schoolchildren, along with Psychic Paramount, Jennifer Gentle, Zs and The Gris Gris. The beats zip straight and steady for what seems like the entire first CD, usually under the thunder of a four-on-the-flo' dick-kicker that gives way periodically to flashes of tom and cymbal, albeit without ever ceding momentum to silence.
I've played in a ton of duos as a drummer (not by choice), and it puts a ton of pressure on the rhythmic element; too much. I always felt compelled to busy-up my presentation, probably because my accompanists often couldn't fill the room with electro-mash the way Kellar guitarist Dan Cross can. Andy Pyne avoids overplaying, offering a mature, ever-evolving platter of drum riffs that serve the song more than the man behind them, save the little flourishes I mentioned above, which are obligatory when you play two-man instrumental rock.
I'm about four-and-a-half minutes into 'Buzzards Basking' and feeling a little bored and fatigued, and BOOM-BAPPA-POW-WOWWWW ZING-ZARF-ZAMMOOO a freak(the-fuck)out straight from the playbook of Acid Mothers Temple saves the day, and in the nick of time. Sometimes you just have to know when to put a cork in it. Kellar don't always, and it's to their detriment. However, when we're talking about song lengths, on average, in the realm of eight minutes give-or-take, the idea is that there's time to let these things develop. On that level, it all holds up well, 'Gek of the Skua' in particular taking the tandem's sound to a higher level as a direct outcome of having nearly 10 minutes to stretch out in.
If you want to hear Cross completely bust triumphantly out of his prog-punk-improv eggshell flip to 'Stealing the Sun,' wherein he flashes around his kit consistently for the first time and reveals a new, more Hella/Zach Hill-esque dimension to Kellar's attack, Pyne offering much more guttural, distorted accompaniment than Spencer Seim or Mick Barr would even consider. A bit of Chrome Jackson, maybe, also a jigger of the new Fadensonnen (which is basically a guitar volt) is how I'd describe Pyne's arsenal of pedals and strings, but there's some super-heavy stuff happening that unfurls a lot more possibility. 'Lunar Moth' is his moment in the sun, warm sun-baked drone atmosphere glinting off icicle-cave guitar stabs that ricochet off the walls until they dissolve. Masterful.
The hour is nigh. Bombs are exploding, pterodactyls are swooping and doom is impending, so strap on your Trapdoor Fucking Exit helmet and head into the fray. It's dangerous.'

Brighton Source, March 2013

'Reduced to a duo following the departure of David McNamee, Kellar's Dan Cross and Andy Pyne get seriously creative with this epic double album of noise improvisations. The 14 tracks shift from simmering percussion rumbles and distant guitar to boiling battles of thundering drums and scorched effects work. The fearsome nine-minute descent of 'Through Mantle And Core' is the most full-on and impressive sequence, but there’s ample more on-the-fly electric experimentation here to get lost in for months. (SH)'

Echoesanddust.com, February 2013

'What an interesting word.
I had heard the word before, not in this exact form, but as 'fulminating appendicitis'. This is not a phrase that you ever want, or are ever likely, to hear, unless your appendix - the vestigial, germ-collecting cul-de-sac of the human gut - ruptures. Scary shit, because, as the word 'fulminating' suggests, in medical parlance, the onset of illness is sudden, severe and most often serious.
After I saw that Kellar named their latest album Fulminant, I looked it up to get the real and proper meaning. To see that 'fulminant' is derived from the Latin word 'fulminare' - to strike with lightning - and knowing what I know about Kellar and their particular modes and manners of sonic assault...Let's just say that I can't think of a single, better word to describe the duo and their music.
And, yes, Kellar is now a duo, which is cool and kind of amazing on a couple of levels.
First, the fact that amazes me about Kellar, is that two people can make this much sound with just themselves and a bit of studio technology. They were a trio until around April of 2012 (see the interviews on (((o))) as well as the other Kellar music reviews). I thought that it was pretty amazing that three musicians could make these sounds. Maybe it's because I read the interview with Dan and Andy (by our own Gilbert Potts) while writing this and listening to Fulminant, but I can hear the change in song structure that Kellar alluded to. There is less contention for the listener's ears over the drums, and maybe the single guitar works better. I definitely think that Fulminant is a more accessible, musical (less noisy) album, while still being esoteric and greatly varied.
The second amazing thing, at least to me, is that this music is all improvised. If you have ever tried to do an impromptu speech, or attempted impromptu comedy, you know that it's difficult and easy at the same time - Difficult to make it 'work' and easy to let it suck. Improvisation has largely been the province of the Jazz elite, or at least that is the most well-known sector of the music world where one sees it most often. Improvisational music like Kellar's, sometimes Droney and Doomy, seems like it would be among the most difficult to make, at least from my layman's perspective. In the same interview with Kellar, they assert that, at least for them, improvisation is EASIER than the traditional, scripted, structured song (aka 'normal'). Improvisation means that you are likely to never hear the exact same rendition of a song twice.
And now, my standard disclaimer on when and where I listen to Kellar: While Fulminant is considerably more listener-friendly than most of Beloved Dean, it is definitely music that demands my full attention. This is sit-and-listen music at its finest, and hearkening back to my youth, the type of music that would have been amazing and really cool when paired with certain substances (which I DO NOT condone/condemn in any way). Fulminant is not an album I would play for my wife, unless I wanted her to leave me alone for 90 minutes or so. I would love to experience Kellar's live show as well, since improv is even more impressive live, and who knows? Maybe it will happen someday.
Did I forget to mention before that Fulminant is almost exactly 90 minutes of music? It boggles the mind, at least it does mine, that this album results from some riffs and beats that the musicians bring to the studio. I am jealous and envious to the extreme of that kind of creativity.
I don't think that I can do justice, with my usual descriptors, to the range of musical styles and explorations, if you will, that Kellar touches on Fulminant. I will state vehemently that it's much, much more than a collection of Avant-Noise meanderings, and is way closer stylewise to King Crimson and Frank Zappa than it would be to, say, Yoko Ono (the very model of Avant Garde, no?). You'll hear everything from minor-tuned Fugue thrash to space rock; Precise Metal riffage oozing feedback to Velvet Underground-style devolution into static.
Fulminant is not background ambience, is not for those that just want feel good vibes from their tunes. But if you love Sonic Youth, any sort of hardcore Jazz, long Prog songs, walks on the beach, puppies...Wait, strike those...Take my advice: Buy this album, pour a glass of whatever you drink, put on the good headphones, sit back and listen hard. I think you'll like Kellar's latest. Has your old pal Jake steered you wrong yet?'