I very rarely buy music based on the label it's on. Very rarely. One exception would be the stuff on Opal/All Saints during the early '90s (see Kate St John, Channel Light Vessel). Another, very briefly (this record may be the only example), was SST in the late '80s.
The first side is pretty so-so. Not bad, but not remarkably. At times — and bear in mind that Blind Idiot God are a three-piece guitar/bass/drums (no vocals) band — it sounds a bit like those Rush instrumentals, YYZ and La Villa Strangiato mixed up with Black Flag. The impact of this Hüsker Dü-style grind is slightly undermined by what may be just a poor vinyl pressing or else lacklustre production. Side 2 starts in similar vein. But by Dark & Bright there's a bit more space in the sound (and the guitarist is sounding very like Alex Lifeson from Rush). And then we hit the three dub tracks and the whole tenor of the album shifts and swivels on its axis.
Those three tracks are fairly unique, and show that Blind Idiot God were not just going to plow the standard US indie noise rock furrow of the time. It's no surprise to read that they played with John Zorn and cite Stravinsky and Ligeti among their influences. They're clearly that kind of people.
On their MySpace site they describe their sound: "Imagine an instrumental hardcore band that was into very intense complex harmony, creative compositions, but could also play dub like Kingston natives". (Which Kingston natives sound like that?)
After buying this album I completely lost sight of BIG: I guess I didn't read about them in the press, never heard them on the radio (not even Peel), and didn't see any more records in the racks. So I was listening to this today thinking what a good time it would be for a band like this to be 'rediscovered' and/or to reform. It turns out that, since February this year Wikipedia has been carrying news that BIG have reformed, and a new album was anticipated in 2007. No sign of it yet, as far as I can see.
 MusicBrainz entry for this album
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