The whole “these guys sound like [random band] meets [another random band]” cliché of describing new music acts is old, tired and worn out. That being said, the Flight Orchestra sound like Radiohead meets Aphex Twin…with some Grandaddy thrown in. On The Military of Fatima, the Flight Orchestra (which is really just a man by the name of David Wilson) challenges the conventions of the experimental and glitch genres, although saying that either genre has conventions is a little bit of a stretch. Still, by singing over near-random assaults of feedback, freaky bleeps and a wacky assortment of miscellaneous sounds, Wilson takes the notoriously noncommercial subgenre and almost-but-not-quite makes it commercial. His singing voice isn’t all that great, but his near-whisper vocals and limited range fit well on great tracks like “Daylight” and the hideously titled “Win One for the Endless Empire and the Neverending Day.” Unfortunately, many of the tunes that do not feature vocals are annoying pop-and-crackle messes that are either downright boring or migraine-inducing. There’s potential on The Military of Fatima, but Wilson’s going to have to either improve his singing voice, hire a professional singer, or refine those instrumental tracks just a bit more. Still, there’s something to be said for an album that almost undoubtedly took at least some of its samples from old Nintendo cartridges. (LABEL: Breathing Room Records 2008
