I put this into my computer and, when I clicked play, the Last.fm application popped up with its potted biography of ASK: "There are four artists with this name…". As the first track started I wondered if I was listening to one of the other ASKs, perhaps ASK the Japanese techno rave hardcore DJ or ASK the Serbian rapper, rather than the Sheffield duo that I know and love.
This first album from them, which I bought ten years ago, shortly after it came out, is different again from either the second album that cropped up here ten weeks ago or the most recent album. For one thing it seems to be the work of just the duo of Martin Archer and John Jasnoch, multi-tracked maybe, but unaided by other performers.
It's delightful that you never know quite what you are going to get with ASK, but it's also a bit of a challenge unless you listen closely and frequently. As David Byrne wrote in the sleeve notes to Stop Making Sense, "People will remember you better if you always wear the same outfit."
Now I did listen carefully to The Formulary of Curses in August, and now I'm frustrated to find that I remember little of how it sounded (though enough to be reasonably confident that it didn't sound quite like this). Sadly I've got a deadline today, which has cramped my style all week, and I've only had time for one listen to Disconnected Bliss while working — invariably unsatisfying unless you know the music very well — and then a repeat of three tracks on the hi-fi while the Boy was feeding. Not enough.
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