13 October 2023 - 0 Comments

A Crude Mechanical is the solo project of Shane Warbrooke, formerly of Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau bands The Bemsha Swing, 1000, and Climate Change.

It's an instrumental project because, as Warbrooke says, "there's no point in having lyrics anymore. Far-right fascists play Rage Against The Machine at their rallies. People will spend 20 minutes explaining how Green Day are actually pro-American aggression after playing songs off American Idiot." Lyrics can be hijacked.

Discourse is A Crude Mechanical's forthcoming debut album, due for release on November 18th.

"The song titles on the album join together to make a single statement about everyone desperately needing to broadcast their super nuanced expert opinion hot takes about everything 24/7, and how fun and interesting that is."

The first single from the album, A Decoration of Moments was a video-only release, which went out into the world on Friday October 6th.

His new single is the (so far) audio-only And We Bleed Metrics.

Warbrooke says of his musical style, "To me it feels fairly triphop, with more trip and more hop, some shoegaze, and I've started listening to the unpopular Sonic Youth albums instead of the popular ones.

"Influence-wise there's a ton of Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) and Dave Knudsen (Minus the Bear) in the guitar playing. The composition is inspired by modern classical composers such as Hania Rani, Phillip Glass, and Eydis Evenson. Plus, because I can't help myself, fat beats as well as Mogwai, Mars Volta, Radiohead and Daughters."

"It's serious music for unserious people; high art theory mixed with bits of fun, like house beats."

All the songs from A Crude Mechanical's album were initially recorded as live performances, which always feature plenty of improvisation.

Discourse will be available digitally and on vinyl on Saturday 18th November (NZ time), The vinyl was pressed at Matter Of Fact records, a little boutique pressing plant in Güstrow, Germany.

Warbrooke was also in Germany earlier this year, where he was invited to play the Fête de la Musique in Berlin.

(Known in English as Music Day, the event originated in France as a way to celebrate the Summer Solstice. "The idea was finally adapted by Maurice Fleuret and implemented in France by Jack Lang, the Minister of Culture, to “make music accessible to everyone”. Music Day is now celebrated around the world.
Source: American Business School Paris blog).

A Crude Mechanical Discourse album release show
With Crash Teslas (Thom Burton from Guardian Singles)
Saturday November 18
Wine Cellar Karangahape Rd, Tāmaki Makaurau
More info here

Comments

Return to News Archive