01	That Thing On The Wall						08:53
	02	Viable Tissue Matter						11:45
	03	Partly The State						10:30
	04	One Humiliating Incident After Another						09:18
	05	Under The Big W						14:18

The Case Against Art (2002)

Taking up where 1999's The Violence of Amateurs left off, French TV is back with another stunning effort. Mike Sary, along with a new cast of characters including main contributors Warren Dale and Chris Smith of Trap, and some familiar guests round out this edition. Whereas previous French TV albums were quite diverse - spastically so at times -The Case Against Art relies on the strength of its cohesiveness. A well tempered complexity throughout walks hand in had with the trademark FTV playfulness, albeit much more restrained this time around. In a way, it is similar to the more sophisticated and mature approach of Von Zamla, as compared to Samla Mammas Manna, and is stylistically similar (even capturing the carnival vibe in "Under the Big W". The core of bass/guitar/drums/keyboards is augmented by a healthy dose of woodwinds and violin, adding subtle texture or spiky tone colour.

The predominantly instrumental offerings undulate with every twist and turn; delicate flute interludes give way to dark and unsettling sax drones. The calm of sweeping violin is broken by thunderous bass riffs. The post-Canterbury sound shines through many times, injecting the songs with a jazzy, lyrical melodicism. As has come to be expected, there is the obligatory cover tune, this time a re-working of Happy the Man's "Partly the State", complete with original vocalist Cliff Fortney. Happily, this version runs circles around the original, with added clarity and bite. "Under the Big W" has that traditional FTV feel, with stop on a dime changes ushering in seemingly unrelated passages that work perfectly together. While I still prefer the previous effort, The Case Against Art comes highly recommended nonetheless. - Mike Prete [March 2002]