Country Music is the second album by prolific experimentalists Vision Fortune, and their first for ATP Recordings, having previously released music with the likes of Gringo(Hookworms), Italian Beach Babes(Eagulls, Fear of Men, Male Bonding) and Rocket(Goat, Teeth of the Sea). Recorded during an intense two-month research residency, generously funded by the Cuatroquesos Foundation, in the idyllic yet remote region of Tuscany, Italy, Country Music is both a significant development and audible departure from the sound of the band's debut Mas Fiestas con el Grupo Vision Fortune.
Confined in an expansive country villa for the duration of the project, the group soon found the breathtaking beauty of the area little compensation for the almost complete lack of wheat-and/or gluten-free products, a severely limited selection of DVDs, and minimal recording equipment. Only able to record in scant free hours, and forced to make the m...
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Country Music is the second album by prolific experimentalists Vision Fortune, and their first for ATP Recordings, having previously released music with the likes of Gringo(Hookworms), Italian Beach Babes(Eagulls, Fear of Men, Male Bonding) and Rocket(Goat, Teeth of the Sea). Recorded during an intense two-month research residency, generously funded by the Cuatroquesos Foundation, in the idyllic yet remote region of Tuscany, Italy, Country Music is both a significant development and audible departure from the sound of the band's debut Mas Fiestas con el Grupo Vision Fortune.
Confined in an expansive country villa for the duration of the project, the group soon found the breathtaking beauty of the area little compensation for the almost complete lack of wheat-and/or gluten-free products, a severely limited selection of DVDs, and minimal recording equipment. Only able to record in scant free hours, and forced to make the most of their immediate sonic environment, the group often had no choice but to forgo their simple daily routines of sampling local gastronomic delicacies and honing their horse-riding skills in order to complete the album.
In spite of these obstacles, the ever-adventurous Vision Fortune have created their most sonically inventive work to date – sparse, yet incredibly detailed and precise – 'Blossom'’s resigned and fragile vocal layers feature an appearance by the live-in maggiordomo, for example – whilst the percussion on 'Dry Mouth' was created solely from the sound of silverware chiming against fine china bowls of foie gras d'oie.
Likewise, 'Habitat' utilises the distinctive acoustic qualities of a well stocked wine cellar; the jarring thuds of sub-bass and violent shakes of vintage Masseto combine to create an uneasy atmosphere of underlying tension and strain, ever present in the secluded countryside retreat. 'Broken Teeth's crooning vocals and amaretto-smooth bass lines, meanwhile, are juxtaposed with dense lyrical content concerning both the difficulties of pursuing legal action against large commercial airlines, and the conflicting emotions that arise when presented with extreme financial comfort.
The album's finale, Back Crawl II, was informed by the only form of emotional release available to the group at the time – a 25-meter swimming pool. Blending ambient water recordings with the various rhythmic clicks and ticks of a lacrosse stick, the result is a wealth of amorphous, liquid textures that are at once enveloping and exhilarating. Given the difficulties Vision Fortune faced in the creation of Country Music, it is perhaps unsurprising that the album is both challenging, and rewarding, in equal measure.
"An Impressively brutal record" - NME 8/10
"Country Music is perfectly sequenced. This is an album that is custom-built to be experienced in one 41-minute sitting" Paste Magazine 9.2/10
"Compulsive and singular. A Mesmerising bad trip" The Financial Times 4/5
"Synth plays on industrial autopilot, like Factory Floor with a hatred for dancing. It sounds so good" Norman Records 9/10
"Mesmeric second album from the London duo" The Times
"Immersive and introspective musique concréte, coming close to alien beauty of Mica Levi's sonically extreme soundtrack work" Uncut 7/10
"Assembling whole scrapyards of sound and turning them into something better then what went before" The Guardian
"Minimal ambient sketches and harsh electronics abound on this fascinating 12-song affair" The FADER
"Unsettling, strangely cathartic and hook-free(in a good way)" Dazed and Confused
"Basically just one long, connected droney throb. But it's an awesome long droney throb." Brooklyn Vegan
“I love Vision Fortune. One listen to their debut album, Mas Fiestas con el Grupo Vision Fortune, in a rare shaft of sunlight while waiting for a train triggered an epiphany” The Quietus
"Vision Fortune’s debut is tantalisingly restrained and thought out; paced, spaced and atmospherically imbibed within a carved-out world of ambience that they have created for themselves to exist in. Utterly Enthralling.” Loud & Quiet 9/10, - #13 Best Album of the Year 2013
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