I would have to say that 2006 is proving to be fairly decent in terms of good music. The only album I had with high expectations attached to it was the new Built to Spill album, which turned out to be entirely forgettable. Sad, considering everything else they've release over the years has been stellar in my mind.

Anyway, there are plenty of great releases to be had this year so far and one of them surprisingly comes from Paik. I say surprisingly because I've never been able to listen to full length album by them and come out of it not feeling a bit bored. Their new album Monster of the Absolute however is a fairly lush instrumental outing that sports a shoegazy feel and dives into occasional psych territory. Best of all though, they manage to keep it interesting and by the end of the album I don't have those nasty thoughts about how I wish the rest of the album could of been like some other track or I am not frustrated by only small glimpses of brilliance throughout. However Paik have seem to nail it this time and I for one am glad as this band has shown plenty of potential over their almost decade long career. The track "October" is exceptionally well done and the most melodic of the bunch, so don't go basing the whole album off this one track. You'll find that some of the other songs are bit more drone oriented, but the band does all aspects of their sound well. In short, give Monster of the Absolute a listen...it's easily the bands finest effort.

Paik - October [MP3]

Buy Paik's Monster of the Absolute directly from Strange Attractors!

Labels: shoegaze