Relatively few people talk about minimalism when they talk about rock n' roll. This is particularly curious given that in many ways, rock is as bare bones as music gets. Songs are usually built off one or two repetitive riffs and arrangements are sparse. Nevertheless, there are rare occasions when bands get categorized with the redundant name "minimalist rock." Television, Talking Heads, and the Velvet Underground all had that name bandied (pun intended) about in talking about their music. So a.) what makes those bands minimalist, b.)who's running with the minimalism thing these days in pop music, and c.) are we really talking about Steve Reich here?
Answers: a.)some combination of hypnotically repetitive melodic patterns beautiful in their simplicity, MARKEDLY sparse arrangements, and oftentimes repeated lyrics b.) Takka Takka and c.)not really.
Takka Takka hone their hypnotix in Brooklyn, making lovely """"""minimalist""""" music that delights with whispered vocals, rhythms and sounds inspired by Balinese gamelan, and guitar that isn't so much strummed as it is carressed. When listening to these tracks, I highly recommend nice headphones so that you can get at the timbre of each instrument: the crispity crisp of the snare drum, the robustness of the bass, the featheriness of the organ, the snappy hiss of the hi-hat. Please enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think.
Takka Takka, "Silence"
Takka Takka, "Everybody Say"
Maximally Yours,
N
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