5 out of 5

Producer: Steve Albini

Label: Ohio Gold

I’m not sure about the how and when of my discovery of Dianogah.  I honestly feel like it was just one of those fortunes of used CD shopping, where artwork catches an eye… or maybe Albini’s name was on there and I took the plunge… coulda been a review… WHO KNOWS.  And I’m not super partial to bass or anything.  I can’t tell you one thing about the instrument, or any notable names in the biz.  Is it coincidence that a couple of my favorite bands – GVSB and Dianogah – use a dual bass attack to vastly different effects?  Yes, yes I do think it’s just coincidence, actually.

Even with all of the Chicago instrumental post rockadoo out there, past and present, I still think the D has a unique sound.  The way that their limitation to the low end (even though there’s a ‘high bass’ in there) prevents them from getting too instrumentally wankery, yet somehow the group pulls in enough energetic punk elements to pick  up the pace out of Tortoise territory (…except when McEntire got ahold of the production on a later album, which the critics liked but didn’t wow me so much…), winding it through some jazz leanings that wow you through technical time changes… and this all happens without a hitch on ‘As Seen.’  The allmusic reviews criticize the vocal tracks, but Dianogah’s first two albums are amazing examples, to me, of how to mix vocals in to something like this – just peppering a couple tracks with carefully selected words, images that are effective but not too distracting, and not sacrificing or altering the style of the music to make room for the singing.  Jay Ryan’s monotone hum is a perfect harmonic blend and acts as a well-timed addition to the ebb and flow of things, replacing some of the non-bass-and-drums flourishes that the vocal-less ‘Millions of Brazilians’ album used.

Dianogah is one of those bands that can act as all things for me – something to rock out to, something to relax to, good for mad or sad or whatever.  And ‘As Seen’ (and the album that follows, actually) are like a dream come true for Albini’s production style, all low end where the players understand how sounds need to sync and flow to make impact.  May not be enough distortion for Slint fans, or it may not ‘groove’ enough for Tortoise fans who don’t actually listen to their albums (yayy me jerk), but who cares, man.  Dianogah deserves their due, and all you cats and cattles are hopefully listening to it right now and are all like ‘I know, I love this band always, duh.’

Kay.