The e-bow is a small electronic device for playing guitar, and was introduced in 1976, inspired by the mad violin-bowing antics of original Iron Butterfly guitarist Danny Weis. When applied correctly, a sound somewhere between the spacy whistle of a theremin, the slow swell of a guitar looped backward, and that electric violin Poindexter played in Revenge of the Nerds is emitted from the ax of your choice. E-bows have long been a favorite toy of bands from all genres, used by everyone from Radiohead and Built to Spill to Nazareth and Metallica to Flock of Seagulls and Modern English. Now that's diversity.
E-bows are one of those musical gadgets cool enough to liven up even the dullest musical product. Case in point: Edison Woods, a Brooklyn quintet (give or take a cello player) whose motto seems to be "not rocking out is the new rocking out." Reflecting a galaxy of influences ranging all the way from Low to Low's side projects, Edison Woods subscribes to a musical sensibility some would describe as "minimalist" and some others (guess who) would describe as "boring."
The songs of Julia Frodahl are largely built around a simple acoustic or electric piano riff of four or five notes, cycled over and over and over for the duration. The bass and the drums play similarly non-evolving patterns, blending in with the keys to produce a constant drone throughout most of the eight tracks. Meanwhile, Frodahl's vocal timbre never strays beyond the slowcore standard-issue breathiness, and the background vocals of bassist Alex Emanuel fail to push the band's singing into the complex harmonies of similar acts in this vein.
This looks like a job for the e-bow! And a fella named Joe Mendelson is happy to oblige, layering his device's astral sounds over and above otherwise languid tracks with poetry slam titles like "Dream of Things" and "Fear and Yearn." With his contributions, "Vivian" builds to a washed-out climax like a low-budget approximation of Sigur Rós, who, incidentally, prefer to bow their guitars the traditional way. Later, Mendelson squeezes out soft tones from his guitar that make the coda for "Lullabies and Goodbyes" sound like Brian Eno submerged in goo-- it's the one moment on the album where the calculated quietude becomes dense, interesting ambient ambiance.
Taken together, these cuts serve as an excellent demonstration of proper e-bow usage, flavoring the songs around it with an otherworldly texture. 'Tis sad then, that Mendelson's deft handling of the device is surrounded by the pedestrian stylings of Edison Woods; even my low-bpm-loving roommate found the majority of the album to be a snooze with its piano and cello set pieces like "Winterlude." With luck, Edison Woods will trade Mendelson to a better band for draft choices and cash before the deadline, and the e-bow will find a home more worthy of its technological brilliance.
