"Marathon" by Kayo Dot
Everyone in classical music is so concerned about the future of new classical music. Where is it headed, where is it going? Artsjournal.com had a long discussion with a panel a while back about this particular issue, and came up with a list of things that "new" classical music would feature, including a unique fusion of "low" art forms and "high" art forms.
I've been following the underground rock scene for a couple of years now and I'm seeing signs that that artsjournal.com panel might be right and the future might be now. The best evidence I can support that claim with at the moment is Kayo Dot, a band from Boston made up of rockers, classical musicians, and jazzers all creating a new type of music that is truly exciting, perhaps the first step of fusion between high and low art.
What is Kayo Dot? I stumbled across them while reading Tool reviews on amazon.com. I like to read the one-star reviews of albums I like to find out what people don't like about them, whether their views are justified or totally stupid. One guy dismissed Tool as unprogressive. He said something along the lines of, if you want to hear real progressive rock, listen to Kayo Dot. I definitely don't agree with him on his views of Tool (I love Tool and I think they're an amazing band, one of the few true creative artists in fringe-mainstream rock and roll today), but I was curious about Kayo Dot. I'm always on the prowl for new music. So I downloaded some of their songs off their myspace account. (www.myspace.com/kayodot)
I was particularly interested in a song of theirs named "Marathon." 20 minutes long. Rather unusual for a rock piece. Even the most progressive of Tool's work on, say, Lateralus, averages about 8 minutes or so a track.
I realize I'm writing for a mainly classical audience here, and being classically trained I'll try to outline the structure of the piece in order to give you a better grasp of what's happening throughout the piece.
The track starts out with a full metal guitar drone on an Ab susp. 4th chord, which startlingly gives way to a quiet chamber section with euphonium (later with flute) and soft clean guitar figures and strange, radiohead electronic buzzes. The harmonies are atonal, strange and everworldly. The song explodes in at 2:30 once again, the lead singer howling away, and flourishes on a piano in the background. A flute flutters in the background, its notes indistinguishable with the massive and terrifying noise of the enormous guitar tone. Finally, the Ab chord established in the beginning of the piece resolves to a heavy C minor progression that pounds away. It fades away to a beautiful orchestrated texture of clean delayed guitar and Fender Rhodes, reminiscent of Boards of Canada or Mum. At 9:30, Toby Driver (the lead singer) starts to whisper into the microphone. His words are difficult to decipher but here's approximately what I think he's saying:
"And this feels like frogs and spiders...the wild world, unfathomable and good. The beauty of everything is infinite and cruel. An airplane, a puppet. An orange, a spoon. A window, and outside, the stars and the moon," he whispers. Silence. The music explodes two seconds later. It returns, classically, to the beginning of the piece, the Ab susp. 4th chord that established the opening tension of the piece. The entire piece basically loops back from the beginning back to Driver's whisper. This works wonders in tying the whole piece together, structurally.
I listen to music like this much differently than I do, say, Beethoven. Beethoven is like a well made Ferrari. It speeds fast and is built tight, and when it's played well it makes gives you a massive adrenalin rush and can literally take your breath away. I listen to Bach in a state of suspended ecstacy. I listen to Webern on my toes, trying to catch everything in hope of eliciting an emotional response from the music (which is tough to get, but once you do it's great). But with something as atmospheric as Kayo Dot, if you're listening to it with the right pair of ears on, it should literally make you feel like you've been to another planet. The instrumentation, the harmonies, the textures, are just wonderful. Otherworldly.
What is Kayo Dot? My guess is that they'll be playing a large part in the future of avant-garde classical/rock music. Screw Vanessa Mae, Bond, and all these other amoral money-making crossover acts - this is a TRUE crossover of classical music and rock and roll. It combines many influences, whether it be electronica, trance, minimalism, complex and intelligent treatment of harmony, metal...the list goes on. It truly is something unique and new.
I encourage everyone to check out this song.
Added: Friday, October 07, 2005
Reviewer: Bastion
Score: 
Related Link: www.myspace.com/kayodot
hits: 10053
Language: eng
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