02 Feb. 2016
“She gave me head on the bed of my dead grandmamma”.
Kiwi exile in Istanbul Ware’s third album in twelve years takes his furious, frustrated, reflections and infuses them with atmosphere, echo and splashes of welcome barminess.
The concept of mellowing as you get older mercifully flies by Ware as his postmodern seethe snarls through even the gentler tracks on all of his releases. His ire knows the importance of a tune to keep the pill wrapped in though, and Nothing, The Knife and No Honey here certainly are resplendent in them.
Due diligence requires mention of fellow brainerd and tonemeister Fatih Aygun, Killing Joke’s Jaz Coleman lookalike, raconteur and backstreets big drinker of the ‘bul. Most non voice/guitar instrumentation and treatments on TIC are his doing, and the seedy threat of brilliantly misleading-named Willow would seem to bear his earprint.
Fantastically jarring as that track is, it’s joined by The Black Moon Architect in the ‘what the fuck was that?’ stakes. Ware can sometimes get somewhat bogged down in his classic rock formations, plumping for a straight 4/4 when a 19/7 might be more refreshing. ‘Infinity’s greatest strength is in retaining his songwriterly reflections while spearing them through with astonishing, if occasional yelps and screes.
Through the twists and turns of dysfunctional relationships, pleas for a deeper understanding and some random come-hither moments, the album resolves itself tenderly in the mature and confident The Hill, the Nick Drakian closing ode. This bookends neatly with opener The Delicate Art of Reflection, a gentle Roger Waters-style lament containing the quote at the start of this review.
Dylan Ware’s greatest strengths are his carefully skewed lyrics, backed up with a stubborn appreciation for tried and tested structures. Aygun’s rhythms and randomly stunning string arrangements set the whole thing off as Ware’s most accomplished set yet. More madness please old boy, it looks good on you.
About the author
Sean Parker
Sean is a writer, musician, artist and promoter, relocated to Chichester in August 2014 after ten years living and working in Istanbul. He was born in Exeter in 1975, and holds an MA and Bachelors in Fine Art from the University for the Creative Arts in Surrey, specialising in abstract painting, video art and cultural theory. Parker currently writes for the Multicultural Guide (Turkey), Louder Than War and Monolith Cocktail amongst others, writing on music, politics and culture, and has held over 35 interviews with writers and musicians from Julie Burchill to Danny McNamara to Dave M. Allen. In the past he and his work have appeared in Time Out Istanbul, Cosmopolitan, USA Today, Uncut.co.uk and NME.com. In 2013 he gave a TED Talk at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University, titled ‘Stammering and Creativity’ which can be watched on YouTube, and in the same year gave a talk titled ‘Turkiye, the UK and Body Language’ at the Navisalvia conference at Istanbul University. Sean has released 4 original albums, one with experimental artist Ettuspadix, a mini album by writer/musician Chris Roberts’ Clocks Go Forward, an EP and 4 compilations by other artists, mostly released on his own Seraglio Point Productions label. He has made over 150 stage performances at venues and festivals with six groups and solo, including appearances with Ed Harcourt, The Membranes and Replikas, and appeared on European radio and Turkish TV a number of times. He presented a number of Istanbul ‘Pen Pal’ reports on Bethan Elfyn’s show on Amazing Radio in 2014, is also UK booking agent for Istanbul-based Major Music and Entertainment, and a music promoter at various venues in Chichester. In September 2014, his factual/fictional book ‘Salt in the Milk – Ten Years in Istanbul’ was published by Kindle worldwide.
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