Friday, July 10, 2015

Recording: The Ex

Artist: The Ex

Songs: Addis Hum + That's Not a Virus

Recorded at Hard Luck ("Wavelength 670"), June 23, 2015.

The Ex - Addis Hum

The Ex - That's Not a Virus

In their fourth decade of existence, The Ex remain a force. There's no "greatest hits played live" here, with the band's sound going ever further along the path they undertook when they became apprentices to Ethiopian sax legend Getatchew Mekuria — choppy, groovy rhythms that feel infinitely extendable. The inner workings of the complicated clockwork generated by Katherina Bornefeld's percussion and Terrie Hessels and Andy Moor's interlocking guitars generate industrial-strength tension and release, while vocalist/guitarist Arnold de Boer (now around long enough to not be dismissed as "the new guy") provides enigmatic slogans, delivered with a twist of defiant apprehension. It's all like a remorseless death-march to the precipice of some global catastrophe — but they're dancing all the way there. Truly one of the best bands on this planet.

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