August 28, 1998

Una Producion Pop

The stadium roars into life, its capacity crowd yelling their lungs out. And then?...

7 / 10 THE STADIUM ROARS INTO LIFE, ITS CAPACITY crowd yelling their lungs out. And then? Then? Well, nothing, except for an uncomfortable, sticky grey hiss and the sporadic dripping of a tap. But calm yourselves, for you join us not at this year's Milton Keynes Bowl Surrealist Noise Odyssey all-dayer but at the beginning of Ma Chirie For Painting's debut album. From here on in, some vague semblance of normality is resumed.

We'd expect nothing less from MCFP, though; a band who, over a series of much-cherished and deceptively perky singles, have inked a wry smile on the face of post-rock. True they may have an unfair advantage over their Krautrockin' peers in that they are actually German - from Stuttgart -; but in the universal language of the elongated bass fondle and the sequenced drone (see: Ui, Ganger, Tortoise), all are equal.

Which is arguably why the genre has been so creatively stagnant of late: it's too bogged down in its structural mechanics when it should be dazzling with its dynamic new expressions of motion. And to an extent, 'Una Producion Pop' does just that, particularly on 'Le Petit Ca Mion' where a percolated Neu! bass wiggle glides into a languid Spiritualized piano groove. Or on the 12-minute 'Hope That Doesn't Rock The Boat Too Much', which starts with bold chiming guitars only to trickle out as a claustrophobic gurgle. We're talking jazz, but with our mouths full.

Don't book the Enormodome yet, then, there's still a long way to go. Enjoy the ride.