Like "The Empire
Strikes Back", "Temple Of Doom" and "The Two Towers", Fabulous Diamonds have
returned with their sequel to much critical acclaim and intimidating levels of
local anticipation. 

The Melbourne two-piece, made up of Nisa Venerosa (drums,
vocals) and Jarrod Zlatic (organs,
keyboards, and God knows what else), have worked up quite the following since
their debut seven inch, and if you know what you’re in for, I can confirm it's
well worth the wait. Produced by Mikey Young (ECSR, Total Control, etc.) who, as
usual, does everything worthwhile in the country, has recorded some of his best
production work - and it’s definitely not something he’s used to (check out UV Race,
Twerps and Dick Diver for resume details). As for the band itself, this is
some of their finest work to date, and definitely their most hypnotic and
challenging. 

Fabulous Diamonds II is simply five tracks of absorbing music that
is guaranteed to put you in a deep trance that you won’t be able to shake off
throughout the duration. It’s an accurate sensation that you’d get seeing them
live, or staring at one of those spinning wheels or a ticking pendulum. The
twelve minute plus opener waits five minutes or so before the ghostly vocals of
Nisa Venerosa enter the ceremony. Speaking of ceremonies, the whole record has
a sort of neo-voodoo-ritual aura about it that’s nonetheless intriguing and provides great mental imagery for listening. The changes are so minor and uneventful
that it takes a careful listener to realise what’s going on. Like Steve Reich,
Terry Riley, and most classic American minimalist composers, it’s the tiny, unnoticed subtle behaviour of the music that will really draw you into its spell. And before you know it, that twelve minute drum kit repetition stops and
you click back into reality. 

Track two is even more haunting and tribal-esque; you get the feeling of some primal tribe chanting around a camp fire praying, as
Jarrod’s deep baritone joins in with Nisa to make one scary unison. Side B
isn’t any tamer either, and why should it be; effect-layered keyboards float
about with the drums and Venerosa’s reverbed vocals, and it works a treat. Track
four is without a doubt my favourite. Words about “sisters passing” don’t
really matter - what matters are the sweet piano, simplistic drum beat, and those
krautrock and Soft Machine style tangents. It could have been a pretty good pop
song or an even better one if they dumbed it down for a mass audience, but like
most good bands in this country I’m sure Fabulous Diamonds aren’t looking to
get on TV Hits anytime soon. 

It goes without saying that the Australian
experimental music scene is as strong as ever, and Fabulous Diamonds have
proven to be a reminder of just how good the scene is. It’s also a gentle nudge
to just how fucking grand the year has been in general for Oz Music.
Thankfully, we can add this one onto the list. 

8.5