Pitchfork

[Posted Tuesday, September 23rd, 2003 05:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

According to the official Thrill Jockey website, Chicago post-rockers/ classical revisionists/ cerebrally droning experimenters Town and Country are striking out on tour to enlighten the masses' stagnant asses with their minimal and affectless chamber music. Listening to Town and Country is kind of like reading Derrida; they use music to make high-brow statements about music, the same way Derrida uses language to make high-brow statements about language-- although in both cases the result is often more "interesting" than aesthetically pleasing, more obfuscating than edifying. It's music that's meant to make a statement about music, rather than to rouse an emotional response, which is fine-- theoretically.

Unfortunately, the statement often seems to be that the Town and Country are really, really boring, and should only be listened to by MFA candidates who hate fun and melody... and probably puppies. Frankly, I don't even know how rock comes into the equation here, even the dubious category christened post-rock. Maybe it's rock for people who use air-quotes whenever they say anything that isn't completely abstract and value-neutral, and who can only watch Hollywood films when they tell themselves and anyone within earshot that it's purely for the cultural anthropology aspect.

Town and Country have recently released their fifth record, 5, on Thrill Jockey, and it's yet another platter of meandering acoustic music extemporized around pre-arranged structures, like a jazz combo who are more interested in ephemera and reiteration than in melody and rhythm. The players met in a series of improv sessions with other Chicago cognoscenti such as Jim O'Rourke and Ken Vandermark. Perhaps one day, they'll collaborate with Keith Fullerton Whitman and Stars Of The Lid, coalescing into a somnolent supergroup that will put the world to sleep once and for all. Get your snooze on at any of the following dates:

09-23 Philadelphia, PA - Tritone
09-24 Harrisonburg, VA - Artful Dodger
09-25 Atlanta, GA - Eyedrum (w/ Kopernik)
09-26 Asheville, NC - Vincent's Ear (w/ Ether Bunnies)
09-27 Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light
09-28 Lexington, KY - Mecca
09-29 Newport, KY - Southgate House Parlor
10-23 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle (record release party)