Joe Turner & the Seven Levels
Watertown, Massachusetts, United States | INDIE
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JOE TURNER: Between Two Seconds
Camera Obscura Records (CAM067CD)
He might share a name with the great blues shouter, but the roots of this Boston-based multi-instrumentalist and former Abunai! drummer are firmly in classic psychedelia. And he's made one of the coolest independent albums by a local artist this year. The instrumental "Waking Dream" immediately pulls you into an aural odyssey, as sheets of guitar (from Bright's Mark Dwinell), keyboards, flute, bass, loops, and percussion overlap to create a shimmering harmonic color field. Like XTC, Turner can incorporate his sonic passions into pop-song constructions, and his laid-back but thoroughly capable tenor singing makes the most of the hooky choruses of the rocking "When Will You Wake Up" and the childlike "Stella Luna," where he admits he's bats for the bat. But he's loopier than Andy Partridge's crew, so the sing-song lyrics and melodies of tunes like "Coordinate Zero" and "Turn Me Upside Down" hark back to an earlier paisley period, when Roky Erickson and the Strawberry Alarm Clock defined opposite ends of the style's magic-carpet ride.
BY TED DROZDOWSKI - Boston Phoenix
JOE TURNER: Between Two Seconds
Camera Obscura Records (CAM067CD)
He might share a name with the great blues shouter, but the roots of this Boston-based multi-instrumentalist and former Abunai! drummer are firmly in classic psychedelia. And he's made one of the coolest independent albums by a local artist this year. The instrumental "Waking Dream" immediately pulls you into an aural odyssey, as sheets of guitar (from Bright's Mark Dwinell), keyboards, flute, bass, loops, and percussion overlap to create a shimmering harmonic color field. Like XTC, Turner can incorporate his sonic passions into pop-song constructions, and his laid-back but thoroughly capable tenor singing makes the most of the hooky choruses of the rocking "When Will You Wake Up" and the childlike "Stella Luna," where he admits he's bats for the bat. But he's loopier than Andy Partridge's crew, so the sing-song lyrics and melodies of tunes like "Coordinate Zero" and "Turn Me Upside Down" hark back to an earlier paisley period, when Roky Erickson and the Strawberry Alarm Clock defined opposite ends of the style's magic-carpet ride.
BY TED DROZDOWSKI - Boston Phoenix
JOE TURNER: Between Two Seconds
Camera Obscura Records (CAM067CD)
Ex-Abunai! drummer Joe Turner has made an extraordinary CD of shimmering, psychedelic dream-pop. His arrangements are complex and reward repeated listens. The instrumentation is a shifting tapestry of guitars, synths, cello, horns, flute and zither. Bill Doss of Olivia Tremor Control does guest vocals on one song while Joe handles all the instruments and vocals on three songs. Joel Simches of The Noise played keyboards and helped Joe record and mix.
Each song flows into the next seamlessly and there's not a weak song on the album. "Waking Dream," an instrumental, creates suspense with a hopeful bass figure and fuzzy, monotone guitar. Ajda Snyder's flute floats in as if on a breeze and then Joe's authoritative drumming amps up the five minute track. This is like the path through the forest and with "When Will You Wake Up?" you've reached the clearing and found the perfect pop song. A kiss off to an ex, the lyrics go "Good to know you haven't changed/good to see you still play games." Another song contemplates life in the city while the upbeat "Hills of Pennsylvania" describes a drive in the country: "Truck stops/and signs that talk to God." On "Dollar Star" Joe's overdubbed vocals remind me of Crosby Stills & Nash's angelic harmonies. And on "When the Day Crowd Leaves," sustained guitar notes unwind in the slow, epic manner of a Pink Floyd song. Joe's wistful vocals add a moody quality to the track while heavy drums with crashing cymbals build excitement. "Perfect the First Time" closes out the CD with an epiphany of wah guitar, melodic bass and intense drums. "Make it perfect the first time," Joe sings. I'd say he came pretty close.
(Laura Markley) - The Noise
JOE TURNER: Between Two Seconds
Camera Obscura Records (CAM067CD)
Ex-Abunai! drummer Joe Turner has made an extraordinary CD of shimmering, psychedelic dream-pop. His arrangements are complex and reward repeated listens. The instrumentation is a shifting tapestry of guitars, synths, cello, horns, flute and zither. Bill Doss of Olivia Tremor Control does guest vocals on one song while Joe handles all the instruments and vocals on three songs. Joel Simches of The Noise played keyboards and helped Joe record and mix.
Each song flows into the next seamlessly and there's not a weak song on the album. "Waking Dream," an instrumental, creates suspense with a hopeful bass figure and fuzzy, monotone guitar. Ajda Snyder's flute floats in as if on a breeze and then Joe's authoritative drumming amps up the five minute track. This is like the path through the forest and with "When Will You Wake Up?" you've reached the clearing and found the perfect pop song. A kiss off to an ex, the lyrics go "Good to know you haven't changed/good to see you still play games." Another song contemplates life in the city while the upbeat "Hills of Pennsylvania" describes a drive in the country: "Truck stops/and signs that talk to God." On "Dollar Star" Joe's overdubbed vocals remind me of Crosby Stills & Nash's angelic harmonies. And on "When the Day Crowd Leaves," sustained guitar notes unwind in the slow, epic manner of a Pink Floyd song. Joe's wistful vocals add a moody quality to the track while heavy drums with crashing cymbals build excitement. "Perfect the First Time" closes out the CD with an epiphany of wah guitar, melodic bass and intense drums. "Make it perfect the first time," Joe sings. I'd say he came pretty close.
(Laura Markley) - The Noise
JOE TURNER: Between Two Seconds
Camera Obscura Records (CAM067CD)
Former Abunai! drummer Joe Turner expands his self-released debut EP ("Dollar Star") to full length proportions by adding four tracks, including a marvellous opening suite that consists of the swirling, spacey instrument 'Waking Dream' that segues perfectly in to the naggingly familiar pop refrain of 'When Will You Wake Up?'. Joe enlists some friends from the Boston underground, including his former Abunai! guitarist Brendan Quinn, two members of Bright (guitarist Mark Dwinnell and bassist Jay Dubois), and Turkish Queen flautist Ajda Snyder to compliment his three one-man-band efforts. There's even a touch of Elephantitus Sextus in the guise of cellist Heather McIntosh (of The Circulatory System, which is essentially Olivia Tremor Control minus Bill Doss). Not to worry, OTC fans, as Turner grabs Mr. Doss and hus current Sunshine Fix cohort Sam Mixon by the throat (literally) for backing vox duties on 'Turn Me Upside Down', the wonderful sunshine pop psych fix previously heard on the indispensible "Further Adventures of the Telepathic Explorers" compilation.
'Coordinate Zero' is an infectious slice of '60s bubblegum pop that'll have Beach Boys' and Buddah Records' completists grinning from ear to ear. If you are a fan of anyone from early '70s AM radio stalwarts like Steve Miller and Johnny Winter to late '90s pop confectioners like Witch Hazel Sound and the Elephant Six collective, then don't delay in finding a place for "Between Two Seconds" in your collection. (Jeff Penczak) - Ptolemaic Terrascope
JOE TURNER: Between Two Seconds
Camera Obscura Records (CAM067CD)
Former Abunai! drummer Joe Turner expands his self-released debut EP ("Dollar Star") to full length proportions by adding four tracks, including a marvellous opening suite that consists of the swirling, spacey instrument 'Waking Dream' that segues perfectly in to the naggingly familiar pop refrain of 'When Will You Wake Up?'. Joe enlists some friends from the Boston underground, including his former Abunai! guitarist Brendan Quinn, two members of Bright (guitarist Mark Dwinnell and bassist Jay Dubois), and Turkish Queen flautist Ajda Snyder to compliment his three one-man-band efforts. There's even a touch of Elephantitus Sextus in the guise of cellist Heather McIntosh (of The Circulatory System, which is essentially Olivia Tremor Control minus Bill Doss). Not to worry, OTC fans, as Turner grabs Mr. Doss and hus current Sunshine Fix cohort Sam Mixon by the throat (literally) for backing vox duties on 'Turn Me Upside Down', the wonderful sunshine pop psych fix previously heard on the indispensible "Further Adventures of the Telepathic Explorers" compilation.
'Coordinate Zero' is an infectious slice of '60s bubblegum pop that'll have Beach Boys' and Buddah Records' completists grinning from ear to ear. If you are a fan of anyone from early '70s AM radio stalwarts like Steve Miller and Johnny Winter to late '90s pop confectioners like Witch Hazel Sound and the Elephant Six collective, then don't delay in finding a place for "Between Two Seconds" in your collection. (Jeff Penczak) - Ptolemaic Terrascope
Discography
CD:
Between Two Seconds (Camera Obscura CAMCD067)
Triplets EP (self-released)
COMPILATIONS:
"Turn Me Upside Down"
The Further Adventures of the Telepathic Explorers Free City Media FRDC005
"Tuesday Afternoon"
Higher & Higher: A Tribute to the Moody Blues
Mellow Records MMP481
Photos
Bio
Joe Turner has always sung and played a variety of instruments, so when his previous outfit Abunai! called it quits after five years, he got off their drum stool and back to work on some new sounds of his own. After the 'small' distraction of organizing the universally loved Terrastock 5 festival was over, he began to make a year and half of unemployment worthwhile by focusing on his new solo sounds. 2004's "Between Two Seconds" runs a wire-length between meditative gauze-rock and full-on rocking psychedelia. He's got plenty of inspired experience to draw on, having performed with The Lilys, Barbara Manning, Damo Suzuki (Can), Brother JT, and Nick Saloman (Bevis Frond), as well as several times with the Boston Rock Opera. Joe's song contributions to Abunai! had left a clue as to the layered, melodious urges that he'd been harboring, and now those urges are ripe for the rock harvest.
Whether it's the huge harmonies that fill up "Coordinate Zero" (an audio picture-postcard from Amsterdam), the rock-solid drums and sharp guitar leads in "Perfect the First Time", a watery piano leading the way in "When the Day Crowd Leaves", or the muscular bass of "Stella Luna" (written only after seeing, but not actually reading, the children's book of the same name) Joe uses his unerring melodic sensibility to plunk stoned cyclical mantras onto the same skewer as twitchy psych-pop, delivering a delicious rock shishkebab to your plate.
The band recently unleashed their self-released "Triplets" EP, in preparation for the forthcoming second album, provisionally entitled GIRLS GET DRUGS FOR FREE.
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