Review: Yellow6 – Cut

Hard to believe that ‘Cut’ is only the tenth full length album from Yellow6 such is the prolific recording career of Jon Attwood. Perhaps more tellingly, ‘Cut’ is also his 79th release in total – not bad for twelve years’ work. Now producing music on his own label, ‘Cut’ traces another journey of guitar-led minimalism.

‘Cut’ itself is a running theme of the album, with four different versions of it making an appearance. The first ‘Cut’, if you will, is the deepest since its delayed melody is totally spine-tingling although the final (‘Cut#4’) version runs it close. ‘Butterfly Girl’ features chords donated by another musician (Beth Georgiou) which are performed chillingly and beautifully by Attwood; rarely has repetition been this captivating, even from Attwood himself who is something of a master in this field.

After this superb start, the music drifts in to familiar ambient/post-rock territory of the darkest hue with clear nods to Labradford along the way(particularly on ‘Cut #3’). Experiments in other instruments yield great results with ‘Diagnosis (Two)’ picking up the pace and urgency with real drums, whilst ‘Cut/Piano’ represents Attwood’s output in its most funereal form.

Granted, there’s a lot here which will be very familiar to anyone who has owned a Yellow6 record. Once again the running time exceeds an hour, the same influences remain but Attwood is at least on top melodic form.

Web Sites:
Yellow6 Official Site
Yellow6 MySpace

Further Listening:
Labradford, Bark Psychosis

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