Negativland

Thigmotactic

[2.5/5]

Like the conceptual modern art that adorns the liner notes of their most recent work Thigmotactic, Negativland’s music challenges you to assume things are flying over your head, when in reality, it’s quite possible their riffing is less profound than it appears. Stark statements about sending bombs to advertising executives aside, Negativland have grown increasingly less subversive since their well-publicized copyright confrontation with U2, frequently packaging rambling messages in wheedling blurts that sound like an adenoidal Professor Frink fronting They Might Be Giants. As their obtuse sonic approach limits their audience, it also limits the impact. Like much modern art, Thigmotactic invites you to project your own readings on to what has been presented while suggesting general themes (in this case, anti-consumerism, possibly vegetarianism, maybe even utopian socialism). It’s an interesting exercise, but tiring nonetheless. (SEELAND) Jeff Leven