Thursday, February 10, 2011

New Fumes' "Bump and Assassination"

New Fumes is the latest project of Daniel Huffman, who started his musical journey in the mid-'90s as a member of Comet, a Mesquite-based space-rock unit that had their records produced by ex-Mercury Rev guy David Baker before imploding on the road, and indeed, they were kindred spirits of the Rev and their brother band, the Flaming Lips. As a matter of fact, Daniel has actually toured as an auxiliary member of the Lips (and Polyphonic Spree), and he opened the show for them at the Palladium in Dallas last week.

I first encountered Daniel when he was playing with Ghostcar, the improv outfit he founded before it evolved into a sort of battle of wills between itinerant trumpeter Karl Poetschke and force-of-nature drummer Clay Stinnett. He was also a member of local art-rock supergroup Day of the Double Agent before that band disintegrated in welters of acrimony. I've even had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Daniel when he sat in with PFFFFT! one night at the Fairmount, coaxing symphonies of sound out of his guitar and pedalboard. These days, he makes music with his laptop under the New Fumes moniker, and he just released Bump and Assassination on the estimable Dallas store Good Records' imprint, in a limited edition of 500 vinyl-LPs-with-CDs, adorned with artwork by Nevada Hill.

Bump and Assassination is a thrilling roller coaster ride of hallucinatory ambience, shimmering textures, jarring dance beats, and incandescent anthems, reminiscent of both the more "out there" moments on the last Flaming Lips album Embryonic and, closer to home, Blixaboy's Kliks and Politiks release from last year. The upful "Intrusion" radiates enough warmth and joy to help heat your house on a freezing cold winter morning. "Holding Up the Mirrors" and "Folding Time" channel Syd Barrett through Wayne Coyne. The tripartite "Say What You Think" conjures stately cathedrals of sound, then splinters them and sends the dust arcing off into outer space. Overall, the album is a splendid example of modern psychedelia, and it's a gas to finally hear Daniel's musical visions so beautifully realized. Best of all, he's planning some Fort Worth shows soon.

New Fumes- "Teeth of the Sun" from daniel huffman on Vimeo.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

"I first encountered Daniel when he was playing with Ghostcar, the improv outfit he founded before it evolved into a sort of battle of wills between itinerant trumpeter Karl Poetschke and force-of-nature drummer Clay Stinnett."

WHAT?!!- what do you mean by this Ken? Ghostcar started out as a sunday night project at the Expo Lounge in Dallas with clay stinnett, daniel huffman and poetschke at it's core but included a wide array of local improv musicians eventually distilling down to a quartet of guys who consistently showed up to shows. "battle of wills"?.no. founded by daniel huffman?....no.
Lets keep the digital archives straight...just in case :)

9:02 PM  

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