Motion Turns It On
Kaleidoscopic Equinox
Chocolate Lab; 2010
I will be the first to admit that I’m able to tolerate psychedelia and prog rock in only the smallest of manageable doses. I guess it’s because I find repetitive noodling and general guitar wankery, no matter how well constructed, to be rather boring and a bit excessive. Yes, I understand that you’re a wizard on the guitar/bass/keyboard and that you understand classical music theory better than many professional orchestra members, but I don’t really want to hear a fifteen-minute, three-part song cycle based upon your band’s philosophical meanderings. Even more, I really don’t want to hear anyone spend an album figuring just how bizarre the average guitar sound – exploring the edges of a genre is fine, but don’t expect me to enjoy a nine-minute song chock full of assorted squeaks and squeals recorded just to prove to yourself just how avant-garde you think you are.
The three men in Motion Turns It On seem to understand my frustrations and have taken it upon themselves to turn my preconceived notions of their chosen genres upside down and inside out. For you see, Kaleidoscopic Equinox, instead of being a collection of ponderous, interminable riffs and solos, is a furiously kinetic, punk-infused record replete with all sorts of jazz and math influences. All of the traditional influences can be heard – Pink Floyd, The Flaming Lips, Yes, Genesis, Minus The Bear, and even some Liquid Tension and Mars Volta– but this Texas trio possesses a bristling, in-your-face attitude that dares you to bang your head to and have fun with the music.
While there are sections of lyrics sprinkled throughout the album, this is primarily an instrumental record. Any verbiage you might here tend to be highly distorted (the band uses an old-school rotary phone receiver as a microphone in its live setup) and more of an instrument and/or part of the general aural assault. At any given time, the guitar, keyboard, or drums can be heard as the lead voice. Moreover, while the band employs a heavy dose of effects upon the instrumentation (and there is some impressive shredding at times), the band achieves this without ever being gratuitous or annoying.
Six of the ten songs on the record are over six minutes long, but it’s nearly impossible to become bored with this music, as the expansive arrangements and intense energy on display draw you headlong into what the band is doing. The instruments seemingly converse with each other at stretches, as thick prog riffs chat with heavy jazz beats and dense keyboard sections. Furthermore, it’s readily apparent that these three guys are friends who actually enjoy music – they not only know when to step back and take a breath, but they realize that it’s important for the record not to be a non-stop display of uber-nerdy technical proficiency.
To my ears, what sets Kaleidoscopic Equinox apart from other albums of its kind, ones that I might be prone to ignore and disdain as pretentious, is that it’s designed to be neither a “pretty” nor a “weird” record. Songs like “Exchanging Souvenirs,” “Occipitalized,” and “Give Up The Ghosts” are ear-rattling and imaginative tracks that feature a fuzzed-out, somewhat dirty production aesthetic, thus accomplishing the delicate task of being arty and progressive, while being somewhat accessible to the uninitiated. Or, to put it more plainly, Motion Turns It On has recorded an excellent record that should easily make my eventual, end-of-year Best Music of 2010 list.