Congratulations Collide On Your Reviews!
Brutal Resonance
brutalresonance.com
Peter Marks
10 October 2011
Collide are a well known entity in their scene, there is no
dispute there but where they have wound up on this album will be
the subject of a lot of other reviews out there. This one included.
As time has gone by, Collide have morphed into one of the strangest
pairs working in what could be called rock and roll; only by the
slimmest of margins. Their records have contained songs which would
strip the conceptions off even the most primed of ears, and in
this, they have done what few can say out there: they have
outlasted the class of 96 which they came from who jumped at the
chance to fill the void left by Toni Halliday and Dean Garcia (who,
incidentally, plays bass on some of 'Counting to Zero'). If you're
my age, you'll easily remember all the new acts eager to take up
the reigns but ask yourself this... where are they now? Are they
doing their eighth album and even if so, who cares? Really, who
does. Collide are still with us, Karin and Statik continue to
explore the edges of their sound with a set of steel nerves.
Nothing fazes them, go on and read an interview, these two don't
make any pretenses; it is about the music first and foremost. All
other trappings fall to the wayside.
Be prepared to drop the tempo and soak in a luxurious mixture of
atmospheres, guitars, loops, and that voice. Oh that voice. This
release has the same tactile sense of smoke languidly curling up
into the still air from a 30s movie starlet lounging about at some
off the strip bar waiting for a moment's peace from the chaos of
public life. You sit and watch it rise and as it merges with the
surroundings, there is a sense of beautiful symmetry which cuts
through the haze: you have been here before but it is never the
same and it never will be. This is not to say that 'Counting to
Zero' lacks in power, far from it, Collide have decided to let
their arrangements loosen a bit and go for capturing a live sound
instead of the usual precise level of tension they're better known
for. Rough and ready is how it sounds to me, and even though it
does, I have no doubt they agonized over each minute letter and
detail of this new work far far into the night.
Many times on here, the backdrop of Statik's arrangements are
drawn back to the barest hints of a song in order to let Karin's
vocals shine through and shine they do. Like a mercurial stream of
glimmering diamonds caught by the prospecter's eye amidst all the
dust and dirt, she speaks and sings in ways I had not expected. I'm
hesitant to call any of these additions to their catalog torch
songs but some of them are so deliciously sad and contain so much
longing that I cannot help myself. I just wonder if they'll ever
take over a piano bar and reduce what they've done even more, I
really was not prepared for how diverse and daring their newest
wound up being. There have been hints, there have been overtures
but now there can be little doubt that even if you take away all
their toys they'll still make it slinky and seductive with whatever
they find. I believe that would be called talent, my friends.
Some artists heal with what they do, Collide wound this time out by
virtue of how nakedly unashamed these songs are. It will hurt for a
short while but as they are so fond of saying, what doesn't kill
you makes you stronger.
What has happened in their world, is it just artistic license
going on here or has everything been turned upside down. We'll
never know, and it isn't our business anyway so let us just partake
of the sumptuous repast they've put before us. No seriously, shut
your mouth and listen.
--------------------------
Vampires in the Sunburnt Country
Jason Nahrung
http://jasonnahrung.com/
American duo Collide remind me a little of Massive Attack, but
the midnight version. I've got a promo copy of their latest and
seventh studio album, Counting to Zero (Noiseplus), on high
rotation, and their electro cruise is so smooth - find a place
under the lasers in the fog and let your slo-mo bat-catching go
wild. Suggested track: 'Lucky 13′, suitably slinky beats with
singer kaRIN hitting some sultry notes down low.
It doesn't pay to get too complacent, though. They like a little
mid-song pause, a little change of tempo, just to keep you on your
toes. See 'In the Frequency' for a fine example: fuzz guitars
making highlights, and a gradual fade to grey, setting up the
heavier bass attack of 'Clearer'.
kaRIN and programming partner Statik perpetuate their
distinctive sound - her fetching pipes remain the lead instrument
as the layers of music builds and fades in step - while pushing
their studio savvy out all the speakers. There are shards of
Vangelis, Goldfrapp, John Foxx, Portishead … some Middle Eastern
notes, too. The album is both perfect mood music for a chill-out as
well as a funky stereo-sound experience.
The tone is set from the opener, the slow-building 'Bending and
Floating', a doorway into a rich electronic landscape the name of
which kind of says it all, really. Across the 11 tracks, the vocals
do float above the electronic current, and there's some bending
going on, too: keyboard and strings on the exemplary title track
with gorgeous guitar courtesy of Scott Landes, a quietly catchy
lead track in 'Mind Games', a fractured electro snatch and grab in
'Tears Like Rain'.
'Human' is a slow burn, kaRIN exercising some range to bring
added emotion - "who's going to fix you when you're broken?" - to
an outfit who can come across as sonically icy rather than
fiery.
'Further from Anything', with Secret Meeting collaborator Dean
Garcia (of delicious, departed Curve) on bass, changes gears nicely
for a last-half jolt before the slide to the end, concluding with
the poppy (and suitably named) closer,'Letting Go'
With more than half the songs clocking in at more than five
minutes, the album takes almost a full hour to unwind, and it can
lull. kaRIN's default vocal setting is a lullaby croon and it will
take you away - to a good place.
--------------------------
Morpheus Music Reviews
Paul Jury
http://www.electronicmusicmall.com/Html/reviews94.htm#zero
October 2011
Electro, darkwave, trip-hop and seductive female vocals.
Counting to Zero sees Collide doing all that they do best with
even more class and finesse. Plaintive piano and cinematic strings
run a thread of elegance through a number of the tracks on this
album, a contrast to the distorted guitars and crunchy electronics.
The downtempo pace of much of the music heightens the moody,
stalking nature that Collide creates so well. There is a fine
balance of intricate detail and deft sparsity with gritty effects;
crawling synthetic atmospheres and programmed ephemera embellishing
the guitar, drum and bass core. The resultant mix often allows the
vocals space to soar as on Bending and Floating; meander ethereally
or haunt the corners. Further From Anything sees Collide drive the
pace up a few notches: a driving drum beat and layered guitars
heaving behind a slinky vocal arrangement that comes from different
directions; languid and cool against the sonic maelstrom.
ARTWORK Counting to Zero arrives in a hand
wrapped shroud of black tissue sealed with a sharp Collide sticker.
The band clearly take great care and interest in presenting their
craft; the generous accompanying package includes: a signed poster;
a glossy photograph; a press release sheet; a postcard; a signed
monochrome card; a small logo card and a badge (at least it does if
you order direct from the band's site - you'll just get the CD
otherwise). The jewelcase is fronted by a beaming, wind-whipped
portrait of kaRIN (as on the poster); hair and light threads
curling horizontally toward a faint overlaid zero. The rear cover
shows similar trails of light streaming across a stark landscape
and over a distant crag. Track titles are here in simple font to
the left. Inside is a lush sixteen-page booklet brimming with sleek
photographs, lyrics, track-by-track credits, contact details,
websites and a huge - huge list of thanks. Again, the band have
taken the time to sign the booklet. A final sultry image of kaRIN
bathed in light hides behind the disc.
OVERALL
Vocalist kaRIN and multi-instrumentalist Statik return with
their seventh studio album joined by bassists Kai Kurosawa, Kevin
Kipnis and Dean Garcia with Scott Landes providing additional
guitar work. Familiar names now, Collide are further known through
side project The Secret Meeting (with Curve's Dean Garcia) and
remix work from such notables as Charlie Clouser (NIN, SAW), cEvin
Key (Skinny Puppy) and Rhys Fulber, (Frontline Assembly, Delerium).
The eleven recordings here flow smoothly as a lush multi-faceted
whole; the emotive, expressive deep piano chords and
electro-crackle of Human; the shady dream pop and quiet interludes
of the title track Counting To Zero; the heavy guitar and
buzz-synth wall-of-sound of Clearer. Of course, kaRIN's distinctive
voice and siren-song approach unites the songs, but there is a
powerful unity of vision also in Statik's filmic-cyber-grunge sonic
diversity. Interweaving the harshness of noise and distortion with
musical grace and saturated colour, the beauty and passion of
unique song: Collide are riding the peak of their wave. Visit the
Collide website for details on this and all previous Collide
releases.
-------------------
Sputnik Music
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/46271/Collide-Counting-to-Zero/
Collide haven't made a noticeably excellent album in quite some
time. In fact, ever since their album, Chasing The Ghost, they've
been chasing the ghost of their former greatness, always
attempting, but never succeeding. This has resulted in two
forgettable albums (Two Headed Monster and Some Kind of Strange),
and a whole lot of wasted time - eleven long years, to be exact.
However, as if in answer to our disgruntlement, Collide have
created something they have always been capable of. I guarantee you
that no one saw this coming considering the dismalness of their
previous album. Counting To Zero shows a veteran band starting
over, returning to original form. Nothing is more welcome than
this. For an album that is completely dedicated to their fans, they
have definitely given them something to cherish.
Counting To Zero is an elegant combination of new ideas combined
with the power of old, and it's absolutely stunning. Every twist
and turn pleases, as KaRIN's tempting vocals writhe snake-like
through the lush industrial/electronic garden. The spotlight is
indeed on the female singer, for the electronic aspect isn't as
suffocating as old. The atmosphere is certainly expansive, but they
do not try particularly hard at filling every single nook and
cranny. It is their sexiest, classiest album, with the vocalist as
her usual seductress self, and the music as a means to embody her
emotions. It often feels like an olden club with KaRIN as the
showgirl, while a horde of smoking, hat-wearing men smile and
whistle in their wooden seats.
The perfect soundtrack to a walk through a haunted house,
Counting To Zero makes no compromises. The atmosphere is a creepy
one, and this time it actually gives the spooks. "Lucky 13 comes
around" are the opening lyrics, as the message sinks in from the
singer's dark, sinister voice inflections. A tingle runs down the
spine, but the listening must continue, for it takes you to the
edge of your fears, and firmly grips you there. The music isn't
necessarily cacophonous, but KaRIN's horror queen attitude mingled
with ghostly, subliminal industrial whispers are certainly enough
to exude bumps in the night.
Collide have always been in the background, creating their music
and not expecting much attention. With this album, however, their
voice is truly heard. They deserve legitimate attention for
creating such an excellent album, and who knows, perhaps it will
give them the applause they deserve. It would be in your best
interest to expose yourself to Counting To Zero.
---------------
Grave Concerns
http://graveconcernsezine.com/
I am always tickled chains and shackles when a longtime favorite
group/friends, deliver indeed, Noiseplus. A mature sound from
Collide this year with their hot off the press new album, Counting
to Zero.
"Bending and Floating" starts the party and kaRIN never sounded
better vocally...so breathy and ethereal and romantic from voice to
guitars, and shoegazey-soundscape which creates an amazing track.
True to the Collide sound, yet a place you get to when you have
"Found Yourself" folks!
"Lucky 13" is a sexy "dance", a come hither musically with kaRIN
on vox. Statik is indeed a musical genius and shows his
"programming" on this album that accompanies kaRIN's already yum
vocals and songwriting expertise.
There's more, Counting to Zero (title track) is a
Beatlesque/steampunk gem and the industrial-dance throwback,
"Further from Anything". "In the Frequency" is dreamy and has a
subtle power!
This new album is very exciting, the growth and range is huge
from Collide and from their nearly 20 year musical partnership, you
hope that a band can arrive to a place like this.
---------------------------------------------
El Desierto De Hielo
http://eldesiertodehielo.blogspot.com/2011/10/collide-counting-to-zero-2011.html
A sumptuous "Bending and floating" opens this new and brilliant
work of Collide, the fifth in 15 years of training (excluding his
albums of remixes, versions or direct, or your project The secret
meeting with Dean Garcia, Member of Curve). There is no doubt that
KaRIN and Statik take their time. And that translates into discs
very well-tended, pampered every detail, full of nuances, that are
discovering and revealing through successive listeners. Like the
rest of his discography, "Counting to zero" (2011) is not an easy
work. It will moving slowly, with pause, with mystery, gradually
revealing its enormous potential. Collide mixed with mastery and
elegance, electronic post-industrial and saturated guitars,
hypnotic trip-hop and atmospheres Ethereal, as if it were a few
relaxed Curve, almost Gothic about ensoñadores NIN or some Massive
Attack. "Counting to zero" is a dark, sensual and fascinating work
where all the elements work with millimetric accuracy and provide a
dose sharp and calculated of coldness. The captivating voice of
KaRIN, glides as if it were a snake between the seductive plot of
loops, guitars and industrial tangles created by Statik. The
melodies revolve as spirals ghostly resonances, synthetic whispers
and birthplaces beauty. The general tone is relaxed, although there
are songs that approximates tangentially danceable, as the winding
"Mind games", the dark "Clearer" that radiates a subtle warmth for
their mild Arabic touches, or the tougher "Further from anything",
which despite having several atmospheric interludes, hooked up
touching epic in its final stretch. "Lucky 13" reminds us of
Siouxsie and the Banshees bathed in mesmerising electronics while
"In the frequency" masterful assumes the legacy of Curve and
Massive Attack, renouncing the obvious and and its essence into
something radically own and unique. The brightness of the title
track to the album contrasts with the autistic darkness of "Human",
whose piano evokes the Cranes of the era of "Wings of Joy". Space,
complex and experimental vestiges of "Tears like rain" and "Slow
down" slow down the evolution of the album, with "Letting go",
reaches its conclusion as if it were a flower on the snow that
opening up to the light of the Sun. Collide once again demonstrate
that the complex can be enormously seductive. That should give him
time to time. And there is room for dyed black beauty and dreams
that were reluctant to leave the abyss at the borders of hypnotic,
on the margins of the more obscure music.