Kobi: Dronesyndrome

 

This Norwegian drone collective built around the sounds and synth of Kai Mikalsen; may be wearing their hearts on their sleeves with a title like this, but it sure lives up to it. Spacious distance and slowly unfolding clusters of tones; very much like exploring an acoustic/electronic sonic swamp. Moody meandering frog like drums and insects flying in small delicately buzzing clouds. As it gets dark the vibe gets more ominous, soon mysterious shadows spread across the landscape. As human voices start to appear we are overhearing them, perhaps it’s random telepathic bleed, or EVP nervously knocking from the next dimension.

~ George Parsons, Dream Magazine

 

Layers of deep drones and pulsating electro-acoustic manipulation. Listen closely and you'll discover whole worlds of subtle aural beauty that as a whole creates one of the most well crafted and enticing drone albums I've heard in a while. Improvisation and experimentation at its finest by Kai Mikalsen and his Norwegian crew.

~ Everything is Fire

 

 

If Thousands: i have nothing

 

This duo (Aaron Molina and Christian McShane) from Duluth, Minnesota make some marvelously evocative soundtracks to films that don’t exist; or films that only unreel in your mind while listening to this on headphones. Lonely spaces and places filled with a warm undertow like some sort of ambient lullaby beneath the outer melancholic desolation. Comforting and slightly disturbing; a couple passages are a bit like Eno’s On Land only with a bit more caffeine in the mix.

~ George Parsons, Dream Magazine

 

Despite their five years of existence, four albums and three EPs, I never heard of If Thousands, the duo of Christian McShane and Aaron Molina. They return, so I am told, here to the more experimental days when they first started out. They receive help from Paul Metzger of TVBC on banjo and GST&2i on horns. Together they recorded this album during a two day studio improvisation, which were mixed by Ben Durrant later on. If Thousands play drone music that takes their drones from guitars (unlike others who use synthesizers or field recordings - to make the difference a bit sharper) and the music they come up with here bears resemblance from the likes of Stars Of The Lid or Windy and Carl - the beatless form of post rock. Heavy mood music with a darker touch. Slow waving tones, with guitar pedals stuck firmly in endless modes form the backbone of many of the tracks and on top they play a sparse melody or sometimes merely a set of tones. Gentle music with a darker edge to it. Maybe not entirely uplifting, but certainly one that could settle the mood on an autumn evening.

~ Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly

 

 

Rollerball: Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause

 

Hints of modern cabaret and free-association instrumentation make up Rollerball’s 11th album, Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause.  Jumping from genres quicker than a Southerner can quote the Bible, this extremely eclectic quintet took only nine months to make their new album.  Some of the 15 tracks some burn with fire and brimstone while others are pure instrumental post-modern carnival rides.  Rollerball start their album with a bang with “Quench”, “Erzulie” and “Fucker” using instruments and electronics as aural weapons, but the Mazzy Star-meets-Thom Yorke beauty of (suitably named) Mae Starr’s voice is quickly replaced by what sounds like an entirely different band on “Sores” and “Break Your Neck”.  Alternating singer S. de Leon S. comes across as a less-piano-driven Ben Folds as he jokingly sings about his girlfriend’s chicken parts.  The middle of this album slows quite considerably and at times the band gets too wrapped up in pushing the musical envelope, sacrificing melody and structure for their art. There is something very Tom Waits-ian about this band’s sound and approach, but I think they would have faired better to make two distinct albums instead of one long, droning assemblage.

There is a quip on the band’s website about them “living” at the Ranch Rollerball and Saloon where they dine and practice. There couldn’t be a more appropriate image of this band, which have truly created a musical smorgasbord with Catholic Paws / Catholic Pause.  Rollerball are headed to heavy rotation on “Morning Goes Eclectic”.

~ Vivien Weimar, SickAmongthePure

 

The Rollerball story dates back to the early 90’s, 1994 to be exact where the band was formed in Portland. Since 1997 they’ve released over ten albums already and now here in 2005 Silber Records is releasing their new album called Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause. In the early days the band played some sort of power-pop music (whatever that may be) and then a few years down the road they got sick of that sound and added more members and altered their sound into something much different. The Rollerball of today is a bit hard to describe, but here goes. This group of five with several guest musicians plays some sort of strange jazzy, lounge music with ambient, rock, and experimental music influences. Strange I know, but this a strangely great album.

My favorite song without question is the second track "Erzulie." This particular track uses a piano, bass, light percussion, vocals, and various brass instruments. The feeling the song has is that of a dark jazzy loungy sentiment, and well what can I say the song is incredible, but hard to explain. Another interesting song is "Sores," which starts out rather calm but as the song progresses the instruments gain momentum, and the vocalist starts to use some really wild voices. I also like "Tambien" a lot since it’s an up tempo song that uses an accordion, percussion, and various vocalists singing rather nicely. Largely though the album is instrumental or just uses wordless vocals. Most of the songs are weird mixed up jazz experimental like songs, which really can’t be described. You’d just have to hear them to understand them.

All things considered Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause is a rather good but definitely unconventional album. Those that have interest in jazz, lounge, or just something different sounding should check this band out.

~ Blackwinged, Lunar Hypnosis

 

Drama queens with serious avant-garde credentials, Rollerball shapeshift with subtle grandiosity among krout rock, jazz, drone, gypsy, & afrobeat without the taint of dilettantism.  Their great recent Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause adds yet another layer of mysterious beauty to the Portland ensemble's stunning repertoir.

~ Dave Segal, The Stranger

 

Out on the same label that re-issued Lycia's Estrella is the 5 piece Rollerball.  With Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause they present their eleventh CD & their third on Silber.  Soundwise Rollerball melt different ingredients from analog jazz to digital noise.  Add to this a horn section with tuba & sax & you have a very enjoyable potpurri.  If you doubt that this combo could work, consider that David Sylvian is the living proof that electronics should not limit their senses.  The combination naturally makes that the whole as this album swims in a jazz atmosphere.  Add to this female & male vocals that are close to Sting going blues & you have an extra border.  Not a problem for me, perhaps it is for others.

~ Bernard Van Isacker, Side-Line

 

On their 11th album (the third for Silber) Rollerball continue their sonic experimentation mixing jazz-noise with pop sensibilities, ambient drones with surreal lyrics and launching the whole thing deep into space. Opening track ‘Quench’ welcome the listener in with tinkling bells and whispered vocal, as the instruments rumble and drone underneath slowly building the tension before ‘Erzulie’ takes over sounding like big band jazz played by a bunch of talented stoners. Further in ‘Tipping The Tree’ is a dub torch song, the pulsing rhythm overlaid with electronic effects and lashings of echo, whilst ‘sores’ is a jazz poem awash with glorious percussion and driving bass the vocals dealing with a bad case of chicken-pox.’Tambien’ adds a touch of melody to the proceedings, the brass creating a warm ambience to the tune, which is quickly forgotten as the instrumental ‘Jack To Jac’ disintegrates into some free-jazz noise squalling its way through the listeners ears before ‘Quad Four’ brings back the warm brass blanket to massage the noise away. Eventually we reach the albums final track ‘Maime’. Beginning with eastern percussion our eyes are torn out so that we can see, the musicians creating a brooding ambience where the shadows hide our deepest fears, then silence, before a maelstrom of discordant noise finally drives any sense of reality from our minds.

Managing to contain fifteen songs within an hour of music gives this album a schizophrenic cut and paste feel, something that is enhanced by the use of thirteen players (including a horn section), allowing each song a chance to utilise a different combination of sounds, creating a wide-ranging and beautifully realised body of work. With the emphasis on rhythm and texture Rollerball have produced their finest work so far, more complex, darker, less structured and a fantastic ride from start to finish.

~ Simon Lewis, Ptolemaic Terrascope

 

Just because Rollerball, a quintet from Portland, Oregon, have not used any of their last ten albums to present a coherent vision of what they may (or may not) be, it doesn't mean that Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause will be any different.  Indeed, this 11th studio album, taking its name from a not especially edifying homophonic coincidence, often sounds like the product of several groups.  The transit from the unstructured free jazz of "Jack to Jac" to the magnificent sleazy progress of songs like "Erluzie" & "Tambien" is a long, long one.  But just possibly it's this journey that the listener is meant to keep in mind.

Tracks will often incorporat what seem like found sounds: highway ambience, engine noises, more arcane field recordings.  The chord stretching uluations on "Mantis Segue" probably don't come from the bottom drawer of an ethnomusicologist, but one has the feeling that they'd like to be.  The one pattern that emerges from this most catholic approach to songwriting is this: for every ear-bending squawl of one track, you know that its successor will be a rather good song, in the mould of Yo La Tengo or The Devics after an all night bender.  The swaying, parping brass on "Ederlezi" is a wonderful effort in staying upright and, while pieces like "Quench" - a spoken word intro on which Stefania Pedretti's delivery is slurred & so too is Molly Griffith's cello - are challenging, then the thrill of Rollerball's pounding piano on "Erzulie" or Griffith's fluid strings on "Maime" are well worth the bewilderment.

~ Louise Gray, The Wire

 

I’ve never heard of Rollerball before, but a quick glance at their biography teaches me that this is already the band’s eleventh (!) album. It is called Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause and is the third full-length on Silber, a record label that’s releasing music of a wide variety of genres.

Rollerball exists for over a decade now. You might have noticed their Cochon records release in the past.

Rollerball’s highly experimenting with all kinds of instruments, voices and sounds on Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause. This hodgepodge of sounds and timbres lucidly creates a colourful album that’s very organic and diverse and stretches across genres and boundaries. This one time the band sounds like a modern pop band, minutes later they’re playing in the vein of Matmos, seconds later they’re sounding like a progressive rock band or they play a Constellation type of post-rock. It’s very hard to digest, and it doesn’t get easier to listen to when the band’s searching it’s hail in noise and cacaphony in the meantime.

The band’s audibly not really interested in firm song structures and a tight rhythm. They’re freejazzing all over, with a heap of musicians playing a heap of instruments: tuba, drums, bass, keyboards, percussion, sax, clarinet, trumpet… The result is not a bombastic album, as one would probably expect from a band with this instrumentation. The band’s not really using all instruments simultaneously together to create songs that smack our heads hard down to the floor, but creates an album that’s probably more about sounds than it is about songs.

Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause clearly is an album that seeks interaction and needs to be listened to actively. If not, it might drown in a mess of experiments and noises. It’s searching for a way into your brains and looks for a place to settle down up there. There’s some real good things on here, but there’s equally as much low-quality passages that critically need to be waded through. And especially the latter made me conclude that this is an album that’s definitely interesting, but didn’t fully convince me.

~ Thomas Byttebier, Semtex Magazine

 

After the slightly disappointing Behind the Barber (not bad, simply a bit insubstantial), Rollerball answered with one of their best albums yet, the more song-oriented Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause. Actually, the 15 tracks on this CD are almost evenly split between songs and instrumentals, but Mini Wagonwheel and co. are smoothing things down on this release.

Exit the ska-punk episodes: the songs lean toward intelligent pop, with accessible arrangements and moving melodies. Of course, things are not that simple and the lyrics would not pass by unnoticed on mainstream radio (even songs like the beautiful "Erzulie" and "Coburn" have an odd atmosphere), but Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause contains some of Rollerball's best-written, most memorable material. Plus, it features Mae Starr as a full-fledged singer, her deep alto voice crooning seductively. As usual with this band, the instrumentals shuffle the deck: odd beats, strange solos, a reggae feel here, an avant-jazz angularity there -- they act like prisms showing different facets of what has just been heard. Both songs and instrumentals are kept short and to the point: no wasted time, no extra chorus repeated for the sake of duration. Melodies are catchy enough to catch them the first time, so once they have been exposed, the band moves on to the next transitional tune, then straight into another song. The basic quintet receives help from a cast of regular friends, including singer Stefania Pedretti and drummer Bruno Dorella (of OvO), tubist Ben Wright, and maverick sax player Jacopo Andreini.

There is not a single throwaway on this album, except maybe for the "hidden" lo-fi jam, which will definitely not be to everyone¹s liking. But who cares, as long as we have songs like "Erzulie", "Tipping the Tree", and "Sores"? Recommended.

~François Couture, All Music Guide

 

Rollerball’s 11th album, Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause, is an unconventionally experimental psycho-jazz works that is, at once, entertaining and gothic in nature. Discordantly ambient using conventional instruments and free-style in method makes this album a foray into the dark side of music, like an out of control acid trip. Most of the songs like “So This is That?” can be quite interesting in a “closed-eye” environment where you can let the music float through you rather than as background music. However, when the next song, “Sore” pokes its head into your cranium, it is a departure in that its free-style psycho-jazz separates the flow.

You’ll hear sax, trumpets, clarinets, and trombones amidst drums, bass, guitars, and keys. Mix in the gothically ethereal vocals (the female vocalist reminds one of a Patti Smith without borders) that permeate many of these songs and merge with the jam-like style, and you get a highly experimental album done by Rollerball with no audience in mind. Rollerball is music for music’s sake regardless of its unconventionality. Having stated that concerning this album as well as their previous works, it is important for you to know that not everyone will be open to Rollerball’s style. It is imperative that you enjoy music in every form for you to be comfortable and happy with this and previous Rollerball releases. However, if you’re that kind of listener, then a solidly relaxed atmosphere (a bit of the toke wouldn’t hurt here either), then what Rollerball offers on Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause is well intentioned and works under controlled situations. Not every song on this album is of the right grade. Their “Ederlezi” track is quite selfish and thus is a distraction from the flow of the album. But this is a small hiccup to an otherwise interesting album. Remember, music is music under many circumstances. Remove the familiar, and let the music flow on its own. You’ll get more out of it. But also remember, Rollerball is for open minds.

~ Matt Rowe, Music Tap

 

Before I received this review copy I was unaware of the existence of this band, nevertheless Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause is the eleventh album released by this fellowship from North Carolina. Given the fact that their first album was released in 1997, it's as plain as day the ladies and gentlemen of this band have kept themselves busy the previous eight years. The cd that can be found in the stylish cardboard packaging lets us hear music which can most certainly be called original and even obstinate. Jazz, pop, digital noise as well as ambient caress your ears here. To get one's hands on a cd such as this one is not very common for a Gothtronic reviewer like me. Who knows, maybe I've been a jazzcat in an earlier life and was it therefore predestinated that I had to judge this longplayer. Yeah, right.

Besides the five regular band members a total of eight(!) guest musicians have contributed to this fifteen-track album. This adds to the diversity but fortunately the amount of input doesn't derail the record. Nevertheless the musical arsenal featured here is quite overwhelming: not only several male and female vocalists, but also keyboards, guitar, bass, percussion, drums, electronic drums, sampler, clarinets, alto saxophones, trumpets, accordion, tuba, cello and valve trombone have been used in order to transform the band's vision into sound. Now that's what I call an instrumentarium!

This sweltering and organic sounding cd has several faces. Accessible, hazy, relaxing, crawling under your skin, emotional, energetic, it all applies to Rollerball. There are several pop songs on this disc which sound like a post punk band (think of Wire or Lost Sounds) happily dabbling into jazz. This results in songs such as the catchy "Erzulie," also "Tipping The Tree" and "Sores" are palatable. However, this band likes to experiment and to explore frontiers. This leads to odd ambient and even almost lounge-like music which reminds me mostly of a jazz approach of the Italian act T.A.C. does or a more acoustic version of Aphex Twin's works. Even the altfolk played by Black Forest/Black Sea comes in mind. It's obvious that this band manages to escape a clear classification. It won't hurt to listen to it before buying or visit a show of them first if they're in the neighbourhood. A bit weird, yet tasty.

~ Nanhold, Gothtronic

 

I don't know if this is a good thing, but I'm starting to like this free form alt jazz shit that I've been getting in.  Rollerball has me inspired to bust out some watercolors & gauche & do some nature studies.  I'm not usually into dub or hip-hop beats, but the laid strings & horns sucked me in.  At times it sounds like the orchestral build up in "Day in the Life" by the Beatles, but lo-fi.  If you like Bablicon, Need New Body, & OvO then you'll love this.

~ Mike Turner, The Bee's Knees

 

Talk about difficult to describe. The folks in Rollerball truly do create music that stretches across boundaries and continents. One moment they sound like The Residents...a moment later they sound like Yoko Ono and/or Jarboe...and a song or two later they sound like some updated British progressive rock band from the 1970s...or a modern classical ensemble...or even a moody modern progressive pop band. By continually transforming themselves and their style, the folks in this band are bound to lose almost everyone in the process. And that is something we just have to admire. Rollerball consists of Mini Wagonwheel, Mae Starr, Gilles, Amanda Mason Wiles, and S. de Leon S....but adding additional assistance are eight additional musicians. Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause is so intelligent and so difficult to digest that the album will, most likely, only be appreciated by a few small group of people. But for that tiny group of open minded folks...there are some really great treats to be found here. Cool confusing compositions like "Quench," "Fucker," "Break In Your Neck,"

"Tambien," and "Quad Four" have true depth and amazing quality. Absolutely stunning packaging on this one...

~ Babysue

 

You can never be quite sure what to expect when there’s time for a new release from Portland’s Rollerball. There’s the air-polluted jazz and

fragile folk/chamber explorations of Trail of the Butter Yeti (still their true masterpiece if you ask me) and the poppy and cabaret theatric

side of their Silber debut Real Hair. If we go further back in their 11 albums long discography we’ll find all sorts of deranged, jazz streaked

expeditions, drones, psychedelia, skronking noise-beats laced with samples and there’s even some power pop thrown in for good measure.

Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause offers a bit of all these styles although it emphasizes on the kind of spacious, fluid and organic jazz no one

but these cats ever could do. To call Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause free jazz will give you the wrong idea, but this is truly music that is

free from any kind of constraint and is free to wander wherever it wants to go next. It’s all fairly melodious and at times even catchy but it’s

still as much an album about sounds as about songs. All in all another capable and inspiring addition to an already impressive back

catalogue.

~ Mats Gustafson, The Broken Face

 

Well the title of Rollerball’s latest disc is highly timely, what with the old pope dying, the conclave shit, and the Catholic Church installing a

former member of the Hitler Youth as their new leader. We are living in fucked up times & Rollerball’s fucked up music is entirely

appropriate for them.

The packaging on this disc is beautifully letter pressed. It has great wood block prints as inserts. Also included are absolutely wonderful &

hilarious portraits of the band. The music itself is as eclectic as ever. On this disc they have guest members from the crazy Italian band

Ovo: they add a creepy feel to the already far-out mix.

“Erzulie” is in the tradition of “Wyoming,” from their earlier disc. It features the fantastic piano and vocals of Mae Starr. Rollerball’s

trademark wall of horns of Shane & Amanda is featured. Mini-Wagonwheel has a great burping bass line while Gilles' drums rumble and

crash.

“Sores” is my favorite song on the disc. It starts sounding like a creepy children song about chicken pox. “Blisters and sores, blood and

gore, my baby’s got chicken pox and golden locks.” Then frenetic drum machine is added to the mix, with clattering piano and squawking

horns. The song ends with a dead chicken lying near a fence.

I really dig the more dubby shit on this disc like “Coburn.” Everything floats together on this jam, with Mae’s vocal that has a weird echo on

it, and the booming drum beats and subtle electronics. It has the great line, “The scent that wraps around like weight. The hand that fucks

the taste.”

Rollerball has returned to their roots of home recording with this disc. I feel this style of recording well suits this band. Home recording

allows Rollerball to explore the furthest reaches of their sonic galaxy. This disc finds a balance between their more far-out extraterrestrial

dub, skronk-jazz, noise rock and their more down-to-earth gypsy pop.

~ Dan Cohoon, Amplitude Equals Frequency Squared

 

Rollerball is Mini Wagonwheel, bass, keyboards, percussion, guitar, Mae Star, vocals, keyboard, sampler, accordion, Gilles, drums,

percussion, electronic drums, Amanda Mason Wiles, alt sax, vocals, S. De Leon S., trumpet, clarinet, vocals, keyboard, percussion, with

Ben Wright on tuba, Italian Jacopo Andreini on alto sax, vocals, percussion, Jamie Smith (Dang Head) on clarinet, Dylan Hinkley (Dang

Head) on valve trombone, Molly Griffith, cello, Bruno Dorella, drums, The Led, vocals.

This is already their 11th album. And I must say it is a hard ball to break. Their music is genre crossing rock with jazz and other elements,

with an intelligent, complex developed and matured sound. There is a variety of structures, song orientated, theatre related, freeminded jazz

improvisational, with lots of switches and elements of experimenting, hard to describe its varied focus, because it's always somewhere in

some mix.

~ Gerald Van Waes, psychevanhetfolk

 

There's quite a bit to like here. It's unpredictable, and keeps you on edge, listening for what could possibly happen next; unfettered by

traditional song structures, it's so free and organic, exploring. At times it grabs you emotionally, but a lot of the time it distances itself in

some remote and wandering place . . . you feel like you want to leave it alone, to sort out it's own thoughts, because there's no possible

way for you to approach or speak to it. I need to listen to it a few dozen more times.

~ Static Signals

 

Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause is Portland, Oregon based Rollerball's 11th album and their third for the Silber label. The core of the band is

a quintet, playing guitar, bass, keyboards, drums & percussion, accordion, saxophone, clarinet and vocals, plus numerous guests on

drums, vocals, cello and a variety of horns and winds. I've heard Rollerball's last several releases and have learned that it's hard to know

what to expect from these folks from one album to the next. But they've never failed to at least intrigue, and often delight, with their well

crafted combination of varied and contrasting elements into a unique and stimulating whole.

Ok, lots happening here, and it often changes radically from one track to the next. There are 15 relatively short tracks on the CD. Among

the highlights are "Quench" and "Mantis Segue", which have the most devastating vocals on the album. "Quench" features haunting,

whispery vocals (in Italian) against an avant-garde free-improv/classical styled rumbling of horns, strings, drums and drones. "Mantis

Segue" is similar but instead of horns we've got prominent percussion, scratchings and electronics. "Erzulie", "Tambien" and "Quad Four"

are pop songs based in avant-prog rock with jazz elements and, particularly on "Quench", seductive melodies. "Sores" is a fun, strange

song with nutty lyrics and vocals that are a dead ringer for Little Fyodor. "Tipping The Tree" is a very cool mixture of sultry lounge jazz,

Dub, dance grooves and spacey atmospherics. "Break In Your Neck" is similar but based in New Orleans jazz. Very hard to describe but

pretty wild and captivating stuff. "So This Is That?" consists of cosmic space keyboards and freaky jazz horns swirling within a light Dub

coating. This is one I would have really like to hear further developed beyond its mere 3 minutes. "Maime" is the 16 minute closing track

and starts off like it's going to be a lengthy synthesis of everything we've heard on the album so far. But after a few minutes we get silence.

Ok fine… when bands do this you can usually predict that at some point some secret treaty will kick in, and sure enough around the 8

minute mark the music starts again and it's a quirky, oddball kind of jazz jam with elements of Sun Ra, free-jazz and experimental

free-improv. The sound isn't so hot and I'm guessing it's a recording of a live performance.

In summary, if these descriptions sound like Rollerball are stylistically all over the place, they really aren't. There's variety to be sure, but

the band have set their sights on a handful of ideas which they've developed, molded and mutated into the enjoyable and remarkably

creative set of music that Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause has to offer. I can imagine this appealing to a varied audience… avant-garde

free-improv fans who like an injection of melody and song, free-jazz lovers with eclectic tastes, and avant-prog/RIO fans interested in

something with a more experimental edge.

~ Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations

 

On their 11th album (the third for Silber) Rollerball continue their sonic experimentation mixing jazz-noise with pop sensibilities, ambient

drones with surreal lyrics and launching the whole thing deep into space. Opening track ‘Quench’ welcome the listener in with tinkling bells

and whispered vocal, as the instruments rumble and drone underneath slowly building the tension before ‘Erzulie’ takes over sounding like

big band jazz played by a bunch of talented stoners.

Further in ‘Tipping The Tree’ is a dub torch song, the pulsing rhythm overlaid with electronic effects and lashings of echo, whilst ‘sores’ is a

jazz poem awash with glorious percussion and driving bass the vocals dealing with a bad case of chicken-pox.’Tambien’ adds a touch of

melody to the proceedings, the brass creating a warm ambience to the tune, which is quickly forgotten as the instrumental ‘Jack To Jac’

disintegrates into some free-jazz noise squalling its way through the listeners ears before ‘Quad Four’ brings back the warm brass blanket

to massage the noise away. Eventually we reach the albums final track ‘Maime’. Beginning with eastern percussion our eyes are torn out

so that we can see, the musicians creating a brooding ambience where the shadows hide our deepest fears, then silence, before a

maelstrom of discordant noise finally drives any sense of reality from our minds.

Managing to contain fifteen songs within an hour of music gives this album a schizophrenic cut and paste feel, something that is enhanced

by the use of thirteen players (including a horn section), allowing each song a chance to utilise a different combination of sounds, creating

a wide-ranging and beautifully realised body of work. With the emphasis on rhythm and texture Rollerball have produced their finest work so

far, more complex, darker, less structured and a fantastic ride from start to finish.

~ Simon Lewis, Ptolemaic Terrascope

 

Following a bold, self-described blend of "Tones on Tail, Miles Davis, (and) Califone", Rollerball climb without a rope to polar opposite

genres, not really caring if they hang off a ledge (and fall) now and then. The opening bang, "Quench", draws you in, pushing hard into

experimental territories with low cello thunder, echo-drenched female vocals, chimes and other otherworldly disturbances. However, just like

that, the band launches into a ballad ("Erzulie") that sounds like Fiona Apple tackling Gershwin: sexy vocals soar above heavy piano

chords and horns finally explode as the band goes nuts and a cacophony of sampled telephone voices fills the sound field. By the third

track ("Fucker"), you'll realize that their liberal approach isn't letting up; you're treated to processed synthetic dumbek feeding back into its

own rumbling voice, an organ drone in tow.

As mentioned, Rollerball's need to experiment sometimes outweighs what might be right for the album's continuity. After the trip-hoppy "So

This is That?", they mix it up with "Sores", a combination of carnival barking-cum-hoedown style voice (shouting about chicken pox,

"blisters and sores, blood and gore / my baby's got..."), fickle sax licks and hyperactive drum machine patterns. "Coburn"'s groovy funk is

interrupted by the neo-polka "Ederlezi", which finds a home somewhere between Bartók and nursery rhyme, nonsensical falsettos blasting

alongside messy accordion and tuba. The band makes a handful of these uncomfortable shifts, giving the disc a "various artists" aesthetic

and negating the flow established by the previous few tracks.

Though the abrupt scene changes disrupt the album's momentum, the songs individually exhibit genuine creativity, attentive songwriting

and focused performances. In the same way that it took a while to make it all the way through Tom Waits's eclectic Bone Machine and

Beck's ghetto-meets-the Ozarks Odelay, Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause's many parts become more of a cohesive whole with each listen.

~ Dave Madden, Splendid

 

You can never be quite sure what to expect when there’s time for a new release from Portland’s Rollerball. There’s the air-polluted jazz and

fragile folk/chamber explorations of Trail of the Butter Yeti (still their true masterpiece if you ask me) and the poppy and cabaret theatric

side of their Silber debut Real Hair. If we go further back in their 11 albums long discography we’ll find all sorts of deranged, jazz streaked

expeditions, drones, psychedelia, skronking noise-beats laced with samples and there’s even some power pop thrown in for good measure.

Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause offers a bit of all these styles although it emphasizes on the kind of spacious, fluid and organic jazz no one

but these cats ever could do. To call Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause free jazz will give you the wrong idea, but this is truly music that is

free from any kind of constraint and is free to wander wherever it wants to go next. It’s all fairly melodious and at times even catchy but it’s

still as much an album about sounds as about songs. All in all another capable and inspiring addition to an already impressive back

catalogue.

~ Mats Gustafson, The Broken Face

 

This is already their 11th album. And I must say it is a hard ball to break. Their music is genre crossing (indie post-)rock with jazz and

other elements, with an intelligent, complex developed and matured sound. There is a variety of structures, song orientated, theatre related,

freeminded jazz improvisational, with lots of switches and elements of experimenting, hard to describe its varied focus, because it’s always

somewhere in some mix.

~ Progressive Music

 

Portland's Rollerball are a schizophrenic bunch - happier exploring every available musical avenue than getting ensnared in creative cul de

sacs. Previous albums have seen them try their hand at everything from deranged cosmic jazz and psychedelic blowouts to fragile

folk/chamber explorations and even the occasional foray into power pop. Critics might throw the accusation of 'jack of all trades, master of

none' at the quintet (for this album they are also joined by a host of guest musicians to augment and extend their palette), but Rollerball

handle their material with such aplomb and with a refreshing lack of pretension that each style seems an equal component of their own

equation.

Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause showcases the band's proficiency and creative appetite - in fact it serves as both microcosm and primer for

Rollerball's 11-album career. Free music and jazz form the foundations for their creations, allowing them to incubate, hatch and prosper.

Accordions wheeze, accompanied by wild-eyed drumming and percussive salvos, duelling male-female vocals harmonize over a bed of

ambient whispers to create amorphous sound collages. This album's two standout tracks, however, occur when Rollerball take to more

conventional shapes. "Erzulie" sounds like the dark gothic cabaret of The Black Heart Procession if they were fronted by ex-Come

songstress Thalia Zedek. Elsewhere, "Tambien" captures the magickal air of a Crowly-mass before transforming into a burlesque chant, in

praise of unspeakable occult endeavours, singing "Black claims my heart. . . Hands off the moon, its not yours." Darkly beautiful.

It would be easy, of course, for Rollerball to concert all their energies in this direction, churning out melancholic, yet fundamentally cute,

pop vignettes. For one it would undoubtedly see them held fast to the bosom of alternative America. But this would be a waste and a pity.

The very reasons why Catholic Paws/Catholic Pause is such a pleasurable body of work are its ambition and scope. Without sounding

like poor facsimiles of anyone, they manage to navigate vast territories that, if not unchartered, have been rarely undertaken with such persuasiveness.

~ Spencer Grady, Dusted