"Interface To God," Thorns (3:28-4:35)

Woozy, black-hole outro.

First off, I love this entire album. I think it's incredible. It is also riddled with great, unexpected moments, but there's just something about this outro that just blows me away. I think it's that mini break-down section, the pause, and then the alternating, repeating figure moving in half-time over the double-bass. It's sort of soaring and "inspirational" while also sounding menacing. It's a great combination of contrasting tonalities and speeds.

Sometimes, the fade-out seems like a cop-out way to end a song. Like "uh, we have no end so we'll just shred over the bridge section or repeat the chorus until the engineer gets sick of it." I might just be full of shit, but for whatever reason I think it works thematically here. Maybe because it follows that line about "eternity?" Whatever. I think it sounds rad.

"It's My Party," Lesley Gore (:54-1:00; 1:39-:45)

Lesley Gore as proto-riot grrl?

These two are super subtle little moments, but give this otherwise simple bubblegum song a weird little edge. I'm not sure if these inflections are audible in the original recordings or are just now present due to remastering and getting to hear all the little details.

If you listen verrrry carefully to the song, you'll hear Ms. Gore deviate from her otherwise very smooth singing into a slight little snarl. In the first clip there's the line "Til Johnny's dancing with me/I've got no reason to smile" where the words "I've got" and "smile" are given an angry inflection with a bit of a scratchy-throat distortion.

The second snippet is even better I think, but even more subtle. The line finishes with "Judy's wearing his ring." The way "ring" is sung is just great. It's more like "ringg-uh" - you can really hear it in the back of her throat, almost like she's spitting out the word.

Maybe I'm just hallucinating, but I really like these weird little details. It gives a different dimension to the song, the performer, and even the era from which it was from.

"Soul Fracture," The Haunted (2:37-:48)

Sometimes a single part will be enough to change my opinion of an entire song.

"Soul Fracture" was one of those songs where the opening riff just bugged me and I never let it play past the first few seconds. At some point, I just let the whole album play through without paying attention to which song was which. Once I heard this monstrous breakdown, I had to rush back and check which song it was.

For a while it was the whole reason to listen to song. It was the climax of what was otherwise a lackluster song. Eventually I came around to appreciate all its charms - especially the shouty, hardcore-esque chorus, and another of my favorite screams - but those ten seconds remain a highlight.

Mutiny in Heaven, by The Birthday Party (1:50-:58)

The scream to end all screams.

In his tenure in the Birthday Party, Nick Cave unleashed a flurry of howls, screams, shrieks and wails never imitated and never to be heard again (Even the relatively vicious From Her To Eternity is much more subdued vocally compared with the Birthday Party). This brief moment, in the middle of "Mutiny In Heaven," is probably my favorite. I think it has to do with the intensity, the timbre, and the odd context in which it is found.

"Mutiny In Heaven" is a song pockmarked with screams; the opening sound is a jagged, prolonged yelp, and what follows is one of the most convoluted and tortured vocal lines in the band's short history. What makes it special, is that it appears to have three distinct vocal tracks, each with different lyrics and deliveries, all being sung at the exact same time creating a unique din.

As for the line in question: just before the 1:50 mark, there's the line "Fuckin' wings burst out my back/Like I was cuttin' teeth/Huh!" followed by a wail so disturbed and alien-sounding it almost sounds like a theremin. All the while, the other vocals soldier on.

Do-over

I'm currently unemployed, so in an effort to feel productive and to do a little self-analysis I will be documenting my favorite moments of every song I like. Anywhere from 3 seconds to probably a minute. We will see how it goes.

Am I the Only One?

Whenever I walk by one of those "self storage" places, I always wonder how much criminal evidence or bodies/parts-of-bodies have been dumped there and how long it's been sitting there.

Backlash

At what point did Mastodon go from innovative extreme metal/crossover act to a derisively "average hard rock group"? I thought we had all grown out of the "sell out" phase of music fandom? I just relistened to the last three albums and they're still pretty fucking good! The underground is a fickle mistress I guess...

Back to the Future

Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
The mediocre album Goldfrapp should've released after Felt Mountain instead of Black Cherry. This album had mega promise: Weird 70's folk album art, an apparent return to the mellow score-like electronics of the earlier material and a movement away from the disco-isms of the last two albums. Perhaps my expectations were too high. I had in my head this incredible fusion of film-noiresque strings couched in lush psychedelia - or even a Der Blutharsch/Death in June folkiness - with Goldfrapp's incredible operatic vocals hovering above it all. Instead we get the duller musical interludes of Felt Mountain combined with Fairport Convention b-sides. Perhaos ironically, it ends up sounding more like a cash-in to current indie-rock trends then the left-field shift to electro/disco did.
On the other hand, Seventh Tree really isn't a bad album at all. I think it probably does what it sets out to do quite well. Unfortunately for this review, I'm having a hard time getting past my own (admittedly high) expectations. Why did trip-hop have to die? And why did Goldfrapp, perhaps the genre's last great exponent, have to be the headstone?
In the final analysis, it's good, not great. My enjoyment of it seems to shift with my mood. Maybe a 7 or 7.5 if I had to put a rating on it.

A Humble Question

Does anyone have photos of the Dillinger Escape Plan show at the Middle East in Cambridge, MA on Dec. 18? I saw lots of folks taking pictures, but I don't see anything online.

Ancient Paeons to Worlds Lost

Alethes - Aletheia
There's not much information on this Washington state duo's debut album on Glass Throat Recordings besides that 1) they're from Washington state and 2) instrumentation is simply acoustic guitar, strings and percussion (not drums, but percussion - it literally sounds like beating on logs). Rather than rehash what other reviews have stated, I'll simply listed a series of moods and feelings evoked by the album and end with a witty similie.
Earthy
Ethereal
Disturbing
Ancient
Beautiful
Hypnotic
Engaging
Rhythmic
Haunting
Sacred
Evil
Makes Steve Von Till sound like John Denver