The Black Heart Procession

Output from Konkurrent's In the Fishtank series often sounds like eavesdropping on a couple's heated argument -- in a very short time, you know who's in charge and, if there's to be a victor, who it will be. San Diego's Black Heart Procession asked Dutch prog threesome Solbakken to this two-day experiment, and the result is a slightly more eerie, less well-conceived Black Heart EP. Opener "Voiture en Rouge" drawls drums and piano to a whisper-coo French vocal, poisonously sexy in the lair of a Black Heart melody, and the effect is somewhat offset by Pall Jenkins' (credited here and on 2002's Amore del Tropico as "Paulo Zappoli") occasional refrain, in English. The Latin rhythms of Amore del Tropico transform to faux Middle Eastern sentiments on "Nervous Persian," covered with Jenkins' legato crooning and the mule trod of dark piano chords. This same formula is employed with less success on "Things Go On With Mistakes," with rubbery bass and Jenkins' attempt to sing a bass vocal line too low for full expression. "A Taste of You and Me" pits off-kilter slow changes against beautiful noise waves pushed by a piano arpeggio and double-time snare, a lovely change of tempo for a very piano-driven, that is to say very Black Heart-indulgent, EP. ~ D. Carr, All Music Guide