Posted on: November 18, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

“Hope/Fiction” is the first full track that Lauren K Newman starts off eir “Postulate I” with, and to say that is defies convention is a great first step for trying to understand what exactly it is that Newman tries to do here. So many different and disparate struggles are striving for dominance during this track, a tendency that is continued wholeheartedly for “Prognosis”. At least “Prognosis” has Newman taking a stand for which line of influence eir vocals are going to take, finding eirself in the “Horses”-era Patti Smith type of things.

The harder rock sounds of “Hope/Fiction” drop out to something that works well under the indie rock tag, even if some of the compositions during the track are relatively close to drone rock. This ability of Newman in all eir own guises (as everything on this disc is done by Newman eirself) to created a cohesion through a mélange of other styles should be one of the key reasons for individuals to pick up this album. Of course, individuals should be picking up “Postulate I” because they love the type of music that Newman plays, but at some point individuals have to see the beauty in one person coming up with such disparate outlooks on things. The move between indie rock and something much more chaotic and harder gives “Postule I “ a full sound that can never be challenged; every song brings another distinct piece of Newman’s style to the table. In much of the same way, everything on “Postulate I” is eminently radio-friendly even if individuals have to strain their mind trying to take in all the differing sounds and approaches taken by Newman.

While the vocals present on songs like “Long Road Psalm” seem to the uninitiated to be some of the only organic pieces of this disc, what really makes sense in this context is to hear the arrangements themselves as organic constructs. Everything blossoms forth, thrives or dies depending on Newman’s whims, and ultimately either evolves or is replaced by another movement. Everything is so dense and full on “Postulate I” that one of the reasons why this disc is worth a purchase is that individuals will spend hours if not days trying to untangle the dense ball of influences, sounds, and styles that Newman has given listeners to play with during “Postulate I”. Difficult, hard, rough, smooth; an album of complexities and paradoxes but something that absolutely needs to be heard.

Top Tracks: Odyssey Into A Void, Prognosis

Rating: 8.1/10

Lauren K Newman – Postulate I

Lauren K Newman – Postulate I / 2006 Greyday / 13 Tracks / http://www.myspace.com/lkn / http://www.greydayrecords.com / Reviewed 20 March 2006

[JMcQ]

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