ONO “Albino”

(Moniker) I feel like this record is so good and ONO is so important to Roctober, that I should have droves to say, but this record’s tremendous success is so simple to describe that I can’t help but keep this brief. Though they played around with this particualar alchemy on their two 80 albums, on “Albino” Travis and Co. marry elements of music usually identified as experimental noise with music usually identified as Negro Sprituals. This is done so seamlessly and brilliantly and magically that it creates something new that addresses the issues of art, freedom and chaos inherent in noise music, and addresses issues of spirituality, trancendnece, folk culture, family history, and America’s love/hate relationship with race issues that is embedded in African American church music. And it sounds SO GOOD! My favorite Chicago record of 2012 without question.