Author Topic: [Music] Chroma Key - You Go Now  (Read 4398 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline TheOutlawXanadu

  • The Original Unseasoned Fan
  • DTF.com Member
  • **
  • Posts: 6974
  • Gender: Male
  • The Original Unseasoned Fan
[Music] Chroma Key - You Go Now
« on: December 26, 2009, 07:22:41 PM »
Chroma Key - You Go Now
2000
Kevin Moore

Gary Hill, in his Allmusic review of Chroma Key’s You Go Now, called the album a form of prog with jazzy flavor. I can see where he’s coming from, but I’m not sure I agree. Trying to pigeonhole Kevin Moore’s music by categorizing it into genres is futile. At its core, it tries to connect with you the same way all types of music do: It’s got hooks, it’s got melodies and it’s got a sense of direction. But, it doesn’t have a targeted audience. Moore’s a unique songwriter in that way; in how he seems like he’d be content being the only person to ever hear his music. Perhaps such an assumption is unjust (this is the same man who released a demo titled Music Meant to be Heard, after all), but there are times when you’re listening to the disc when, between all the personal babble and the near-ungraspable experimentation, you get the impression releasing his material leans more towards being a necessity than a pleasure.

How the disc separates itself from its contemporaries is by relying on atmosphere. I feel comfortable in going so far as to say that many times, the compositions don’t sound like music so much as they sound like a tangible mood. From the way Moore uses drum machines to the way he uses groovy, slow basslines and colorless keyboards, sculpting waves of sound seems to be his only objective. However, unlike genres like post-rock that aim to soothe or drone that aims to tread the confines of writing any sort of classifiable music by making noise, You Go Now finds a balance. It’s not dark, it’s dreary; and it’s not minimalistic, it’s just not busy.

The album features four prominent examples of Kevin Moore’s trademarked sampling fetish in the form of “Lunar”, “When You Drive”, “Please Hang Up” and “You Go Now”. The only time we hear any human voices not spoken through samples in those songs is during the second of the lot, which features a woman singing a melody. And that might even be a sample as well. That’s the most interesting and rewarding facet of the disc: As a listener, you know almost no facts or history behind the thing. It’s great being a fan of bands like Deep Purple and Metallica who’ve let their respective histories be revealed to their audience, but in the case of any Chroma Key record, there’s none of that. You interpret everything for yourself, and in doing so, you tend to make the album extremely personal. Even though it takes a half-dozen listens for the songs to start clicking, once they do, they feel like your own.

Another notable aspect of the work is how greatly it’s enhanced by paying close attention to Moore’s lyrics. He’s a fascinating writer. The way he creates vague, yet vivid images for his verses and then resorts back to describing emotions or reactions for his choruses is an outstanding technique. Let’s look at the album’s opener, “Get Back in the Car”, for a second. Most of the time, Moore describes a situation to us as if it’s a story:

“So the man was tired and the car was starved
And the sun was setting
No the moon was tired and the cow was carved
I remember every second

So the man took a shotgun out of the trunk
Waited on the hood with the headlights on
Radio was playing Christmas songs

Later on he thought he saw something
Realized he never saw anything
Now he drives with his headlights off”

Then, for the song’s chorus, he stops illustrating and repeats some thoughts:

“Forget what you don't know yet
Forget what you don't know yet
Forget what you don't know yet
Then I thought about the man with the shotgun”

The most interesting lyrical work, however, is found on “Subway”. It’s only 8 lines long, and the way it changes gears halfway through from painting an obvious portrait of a man sitting on the subway to talking about break-ups, choices and dreams is jarring. In my opinion, Moore is talking about his lifetime misspent and how his arrogance and dogmatic attitude towards living has left him alone. Again, I’m only inferring these things from that song alone, which is what you find yourself doing routinely with all of them after awhile.

I cannot stress enough that You Go Now – both musically and lyrically – is a supremely abstract record. Some tunes, like “Another Permanent Address”, in particular, are great as stand-alones, but most of the album is reliant on being a part of a whole. Its 40-minute running length goes by slowly at first, and then a little faster and a little faster, and then it’s the quickest 40 minutes you’ll ever know. Kevin Moore may be your stereotypical musician – introverted, odd and self-involved – but his music is anything but. It’s music to be listened to on a cloudy or rainy day, and to be listened to closely.

Rating: ***** (out of five)
:TOX: <-- My own emoticon!

Offline Mebert78

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 2485
  • Gender: Male
Re: [Music] Chroma Key - You Go Now
« Reply #1 on: December 30, 2009, 12:52:57 PM »
Not my favorite CK record.  Dead Air for Radios is such a great album that it's hard to repeat that level of work.  Plus, I like Kevin's voice and Yo Go Now has one or two too many instrumental tracks for my liking.  But it's a solid record.  Another PErmanent Address, Subway and Astronaut Down are classic Kevin songs among his fanbase.
An unofficial online community for fans of keyboardist Kevin Moore (ex-Dream Theater, Chroma Key, OSI):