Disciples of Bob: New Roman Tragedy

Decline and fall of the New Roman empire(s)

It was the band name that first caught my eye: intrigued, I ran a search for "Disciples of Bob" - which yielded a few unrelated and inconclusive results, seemingly having nothing to do with the little musical pearl I was listening to; or, on second thoughts, maybe they were all connected with it in some way. Whatever the case, New Roman Tragedy remained a gripping collection of songs worthy of an attentive listen, or many.

According to its creators, the album depicts the overpowering and finally destructive effect of technology on human civilisation and individual freedom. An astute and crucial, even prophetic observation about what modern life is actually becoming for an increasing number of people - in the solitary confinement of their virtual cages, they gaze at the illusory simulation of a world through their narrow avatar windows and wallow in a digitised mockery of communication, transcactions, friendships and intimate relationships. Society seems to be undergoing a lengthy fin de siecle phase, a slow process of decomposition whose impact is only starting to become evident.

From the purely technical viewpoint, the project is more than diligently carried out - the lyrics and melodies are beautiful and varied, the singer's voice very pleasant, with a compelling sweetness and versatility, and the almost minimalistic but well performed guitar accompaniment perfect for setting the mood of each song. The black and white cover is also directly indicative of the album's content and intentions: the eye of an all-seeing "deity" glowing out of the digital darkness, prying on its subjugated worshippers. Or of a superior entity contemplating the biblical punishment about to be inflicted on its degenerating creation.

I think (but this is just my view) that the experimental tag is doing the album a little disservice - much as I hate aphoristric categorisations, and although the concept in itself may indeed constitute a kind of experiment, the style in New Roman Tragedy is predominantly acoustic with some grungy overtones at the most. It would be a pity for wonderfully melodious ballads like the homonymous opening track for instance, or Girl Who Paints Pictures With Words (my personal favourite) to be overlooked by listeners who would otherwise appreciate them, but for whom "experimental" automatically equals styles of music they'd rather avoid.

NOTE: This album is no longer available on Jamendo. It may still be freely downloadable from The Jamendo Albums Collection @ Archive.org.