I saw Alex Caldiero perform live with Theta Naught a few weeks back, and was immediately reeled in. Theta Naught's live performance was far superior to that on this record. I'd use the word "droning" to describe their "improvisations" since they generally ride a single bass note or a chord throughout a song, with some minor variations. The drummer is the backbone of the music, as I see it. It isn't horrible, and it serves as a suitable backdrop to Caldiero's incredible talent. The live show included a harpist, which was a welcome addition. It also seemed that the cellist added more than he does on this CD set. Caldiero, as I have said, is in top form. With better accompaniment, this one would have gotten 5 stars.

Well this will surly go down as one of the more interesting albums Underground Review has received in the mail… and one of the most hard to elucidate as well. Theta Naught’s 3rd (?) and latest full-length release “Sound Weave” has literally left me stumped in most, if not all, of its aspects. So… grab a bag of Doritos, an ice cold Pepsi, and find yourself a comfortable position in your chair, because this may take a while… First of all, this album is comprised of two discs; disc one features 12 tracks of basically just background music complimented by fellow spoken word poet/artist Alex Caldiero in which, through the subtle music he glides along with his unusual and thought-provoking poetry. And then the second disc is made up of 8 tracks and is all instrumental. I had not heard much of anything from Theta Naught previous of receiving this album, so I really had no idea what to expect here. Upon a little research about this 5-piece I discovered a highly impressive fact that all of their albums, including “Sound Weave”, are recorded and composed completely live and improvisational. You seriously wouldn’t know it by hearing this either. The production, although slightly bass-heavy, sounds just as good as, or better then, any studio-recorded album out there, and already I could appreciate this album a little more then I originally had. So now that I have those interesting facts out of the way, let’s get onto the actual music on this album… The first CD on this 2-disc set features twelve songs and over a massive hour of artistic poetry and jazzy ambience, making it very difficult for me to explain with words. After a few of the first tracks It’s pretty obvious that this combination take this album in a very imaginative and artsy way. After the instrumental introduction “Argus Flectus” passes by, we head into the first real track “The Invitation” in which Alex Caldiero lends in his very odd, but challenging style of poetry through his strong, accented voice backed up by Theta Naught’s music. His voice is fairly competent, but the problem is that he seems to almost dominate over the music most of the time, and it makes the actual music just come off as noise in the background. It’s not completely bad, though, because tracks like “The Invitation”, “Take It”, and my personal favorite “In the Wee Hours” he really flows with the music very well; almost in quirky sort of way. Although many of the other tracks will probably come off as a little cheesy to the average listener because his poetry is really, really open, tongue-twisting, and sometimes unintentionally humorous (Well, maybe it's intentional). Overall, this first CD is not something I would want to listen to everyday, but I still have to say it was quite interesting to sit through. The second CD is something I can enjoy on a more frequent basis, where as with the other disc you really have to be in the right mood to want to slip it in your player, and that’s a hard mood to come by. What really surprised me is that all 8 songs on disc two are featured on the first disc too, but it’s very hard to tell because, as I said before, Alex Caldiero’s strong voice seems to sadly overbear the music, but with disc two the music comes out more personally and is much more enjoyable. This second disc is entirely instrumental and again, composed completely live and it’s all improvisational. The 8 tracks spanned across 43+ minutes demonstrate exactly what Theta Naught are good at; slightly jazz-influenced, droning, and unusual Post-Rock that every so often has you feeling the same way as when you’re playing Godspeed You! Black Emperor on a long drive in your car (“Calneva Drive”, “I Do All”). Other moments bring to mind Tarentel’s repetitive, though proficient and moving style of Indie Rock (“Il Settimo Sigillo”, “Fibonacci's Pi Pt. II), or Do Make Say Think’s depressive-to-uplifting jazz-inspired Post Rock (“Change the Facts”, “You Know Nothing”). But then you get the simply beautiful ambient ender “Axioms That Satisfy” which is just a keyboard/cello dual that spirals with its ultra-sad and powerful melodies; it definitely has a slight “Ambient 1 – Music For Airports”-era Brian Eno vibe to it. The thing about Theta Naught is that they never rely on build ups and climaxes in their music. And I think that’s what mostly sets them apart from all the rest of those aforementioned groups. That’s not to say that’s the only thing that differentiates them though. “Sound Weave” shows that Theta Naught are all plenty-experienced musicians capable of putting together creative and inspiring music, and they aren’t afraid of experimenting a great deal for a sound that’s original. When it all comes down to it, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything like “Sound Weave” and I find that great. I guess the bottom-line is that this is not a group looking to be widely noticed and introduced into the mainstream music scene, but instead a group, along with a talented poet, that sincerely takes the music they make as pure art, and I really admire that. “Sound Weave” is an exceptional album in pretty much all of it’s aspects (although I still have my own personal objections about the first disc), and I think if you’re looking for something truly unique in the Indie music scene, check out Theta Naught’s “Sound Weave”. Or, if you’re turned off by the spoken word part of it, look into their back catalogue for their completely instrumental albums.

When I first listened to this, I listened to it out of order and it in turn started me out on a bad foot. There are two seperate discs on this release and I had listened to the bonus disc. I thought I knew what I was expecting to hear, but I failed to hear it. It was purely instrumental pianos, drums, synths, strings, et cetera. Then I finally get around to the main disc; the one with Theta Naught and Alex Caldiero. Immediately after listening, the phrase “avante-garde” came to my mind. It’s not in the same vein of John Cage 4′33″, but it’s definitely crossing certain pre-ordained musical boundaries. I listen to some spoken word/poetry, but nothing like this. As mentioned before, we have an attractive musical landscape of looping discordance and on top is the voice of the poet speaking his words which fit the music like a glove. If you’ve heard Jim Morrison’s speaking part in the long Doors song “The End” which was famous for the indecipherable scream of a certain four letter word (bear in mind that it was only the late 1960’s, hence the fame), then you will have some idea of what every single song from Theta Naught and Mr. Caldiero are like. The natural darkness of each of these tracks is almost overwhelming, both lyrically and musically; “Don’t know if this is hell or if I’m coming into the kingdom/don’t know what train keeps leaving me behind at the station/don’t know how many days I’ve been standing in a different light…/don’t know what kind of ending the end requires.” I have no intention of tackling the poetry, though I am studying English literature it would be unfair as it would require multiple pages of review. As you can see from the brief excerpt it is dark, and it is thoughtful and very abstract. If you’re one of those pretentious art students who is unsatisfied with the new Tool record, then I suggest this to you. I really don’t know when you would listen to this other than maybe late at night driving on a dark expressway. Or I suppose you could take it to your English teacher or professor and try to persuade them to believe that you really are interested. Though it’s not exactly my cup of tea, I would recommend it because it is so unique and it stands entirely alone among a collection of floundering artists.

Theta Naught’s third installment and independent release “Sound Weave” allows some of the focus to fall on poet and wordsmith Alex Caldiero. Recorded live complete with total improvisational moments intact, “Sound Weave” is two full discs worth of music with the second disc being purely instrumental for folks who (and I’m sure the musicians as well as the poet/singer) would like to add their own words to these incredibly built soundscapes. Dark and stirring, “Sound Weave” boasts seminal experimental rock that is constructed with keyboard, bass, saw, theremin, drums, cello, and lap-slide guitar along with the pseudo beatnik poetry.