Darned if I know how to start this review.<\/p>\n
Phideaux Xavier is — or appears to be — a one-man crusade for
\nthinking outside the box in modern music. For starters, you can get
\nhis latest CD,
\nFiendish<\/i>, free. (Postage donations accepted by return mail,
\nand frankly if you ask for this CD and don’t send him some money
\nit’s your karma.) He is also only the second artist that I’ve ever
\nreviewed where I couldn’t immediately identify a few people he
\nsounds like; hell, I’m not even sure there’s a genre here. Perhaps
\nfuture generations will identify music as ‘phideauxian.’ In a truly
\njust world, it would happen — because Phideaux Xavier is a
\nfreakin’ genius, and this CD has just utterly disrupted my plans
\nfor the 2003 Top Ten.<\/p>\n
I suppose the closest genre would be progressive rock, though to
\nput this and, say, Yes in the same classification is utterly
\nridiculous. There are elements of pop, guitar rock, and electronica
\nas well; sonar beeps and theremin wails are scattered all through
\nFiendish. If you can imagine a place where early Moody Blues, David
\nBowie, The Residents, The Beatles, Stephen Fearing, “Wish You Were
\nHere”-era Pink Floyd, and Three Dog Night are having a long
\ndiscussion about the inherent darkness in the human soul, you’d be
\nsomewhere in Fiendish’s ballpark. But only somewhere.<\/p>\n
The album, for an independent release, is impeccably produced —
\nit brings the nuances of Phideaux’s music out in spades, to the
\npoint where this is a CD that I consider headphone-listening to be
\nessential. There are details on listening to this up close and
\npersonal that you miss on a larger system, and they’re what turns
\ngood into great. Sounds phase back and forth between channels,
\nvocal layers weave around each other — this is truly a sonic
\ntapestry that comes very, very close to perfection.<\/p>\n
There isn’t a bad song on the CD, and in truth I don’t want to
\nsingle songs out.
\nFiendish<\/i> is a piece of work by itself; it’s not a mistake
\nthere’s no dead space between tracks. Phideaux takes the normal and
\nprosaic, and mixes it with ethereal female vocals, harpsichord,
\ntheremin, mellotron, english horn, oboe, autoharp, and something
\ncalled ‘funeral water’ and ‘space beeps’ until you are bowled over
\nby the bewildered brilliance. There are very few things I hear
\nafter five years in this gig that I can honestly call
\n‘groundbreaking.’
\nFiendish<\/i> is the exception that proves the rule. Get it. Get
\nit NOW.<\/p>\n