right so horse feathers. blogs like them. i like them too. people say theyre southern gothic and all, but theyre from oregon. lets see what they are able to get right, this time...
i write this as ive just finished eating a pound or two of my bbq. i argue against gluttony wholeheartedly, but i also realise that sometimes, i have to eat. its not something i like to admit.
http://www.lala.com/#album/2017894108902069310
you can listen to the album once-through here.
i like the strings. they set something cool. and the voice building up from beneath the strings, great. its like 'paint with all the colors of the wind' in pocahontas. i think it was that one at least. disney can be relevant right? either way, i like the opening track, it could be framing something good. im seeing a road to a cabin. my cabin? sort of, im seeing my grandparent's old cabin. which may become my cabin? no matter. thats what im seeing. smelling smoke, but we arent there yet. we turn a corner at around 3:15 and now we see the cabin. and now, with the end, we have arrived.
'starving robins'. thats interesting. trying to get at some flannery o'connor here i think? the frost came from nothing, we're blue. we are unprepared. we're going to suffer. great instrumentals here. really good crescendos. vocals are so buried i can't make out what hes saying. thats ok. it sounds great and its got me thinking. 'where is the spring?' something something 'theres the truth' 'youth'. i dunno what hes saying, but hes saying all the right things. the winter came and took his innocence. i think that happened.
ok next one. belly of june. ok spring came then. we havent left the cabin yet. birds and the bees. literal? probably. june is a happening time i suppose. these cello's are just great. and the banjo. sounds like two minds are flowing and two hearts are beating. great arrangements. 'noon in the belly of june.' the middle of the middle. i like that. cant hear what hes saying. again. suppose this is going to be a recurring sentiment.
now she has a name. hes alone. thinking about her. sounds like she might have something of a torrid past. i guess we all kinda do. maybe thats what hes saying. i think i just heard him say something about a tail/tale. not sure. cant get context. cause i still cant hear him! secrets, hes got them. weeping in the brush. nobody says 'weeping in the brush.' 'news was broke.' 'witness.' something is happening here. 'she came to me and I CANT HEAR YOU'. i really freaking want to know, this is the climax of the song. 'just where you left me, alone by the lamplight' I think, he just said that. if so im digging it. oh things are clearing. i can kind of hear him. wow this is good.
next one. this bed. i can hear you know. wow. so cool what theyve done here. wow we got us a ballad. rare form guys, rare form. really like this one. im not even caring about the words anymore. i just like what i hear.
the drought. this will be good. feeling some camus here, a la the plague. 'spares no one, stealing faith' etc. out of tune fiddle works well here. banjo chopping. its good. from the ground to the trees. gives the drought volume, in a physical sense. wow. and now we're walking, more like stumbling. 'glory to the night/shades been hard to find/ from the plains to the peaks/ this heat's stealing faith from the weak.' i like. hes talking to the birds, nobody else is around? 'i hear the pines crack and cry/there is no reason to try/and its not the same life/here the morning's like a knife/and the rivers been bone dry' 'its bearing down on me/with no clouds in the sky' wow.
vernonia blues. bringing in the kids. i think this is about too much rain or something. 'when theres trouble youll know where to be seen.' something about screaming too. something not good is happening. i dunno what it is, maybe he doesnt either. wow first fade out on the whole album that is noticeable. interesting.
as a ghost. ahh a girl is gone. the ghost of her remains. thats bad. cant hide from her, shes everywhere. pity the man. tough. seems to be pretty horrified.
The widower. hes in a new town. escaping memories. 'memories dont die.' damn. looks like he still hasnt escaped her. shes followed him, even here. i dont get the chronology. winter has happened like 3 times. is this non linear? dunno. oh man now we got his voice only out of the left speaker. cool. she is looking over his shoulder. thats what that is. 'stay with me'. bad news, the illusion of her isnt staying. cool, vocal countermelody here at the end. great song here. i havent once heard drums. i dont think they are here. awesome!
shoot. the last song. where we going here? 'he has no time, loneliness'etc. oh fun fun were talking about duality. always a good thing to mention, right? 'poisoned by hope' thats the worst feeling. we've all felt it. he's feeling it a lot. the heart is all beat out. talking about how his wings are trapped inside him. 'the more we love a lie, it comes true.' Wow. great song. great stuff here. 'the pious patients please ''cant make out the rest'' ' the cello motif is great here, as it is throughout the album. wow. the way it ends! it just ends! not even a fade. man. our literary traditions at work! i want to love it! but its so stark!
this may have album of the year potential, for me. its definitely album of the first 5 months. they done it right- the protagonist has been given a certain kind of justice. all we can really hope for. i dont care that i cant make out these words, yet. im about to go buy the album and read the liner notes, for hours. cause is a good one. May 8. Grey Eagle, asheville. I for one will be there. invites open. week after is sam quinn (everybodyfields) scary good. what a great town.