sageturk
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rating 7.5
summaryLike Nick Cave mixed with Greg Dulli, raised on uncompromising doses of Christianity, Edwards music is a pregnant storm cloud full of apocolyptic doom.
"And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." - Matt. 24:2
Toward the end of what is essentially the title track "Not One Stone", Wovenhand lead singer David Eugene Edwards cries over a chugging cacophony as murky and vivid as Revelations itself - 'Not one stone upon another will stand..not one stone upon another will stand'. Sweat slicked and soaked with emotion, Edwards powerful prophesying leaves one shaken and terrified - we should not fear that there is no God...we should fear that there IS.
For those leery of "Christian Music", make no mistake - this is not the Christianity of feel-good emotional hospices with pithy names (The River, The Rock, Cross Your Heart - Hope to Live [this one is real, i've seen it]), this is the Christianity of Dante, of Puritanical Preachers whose hearts are so steeped in the fear of hellfire they practically breathe flame. These are the words of Apostles, sawn in half, crucified inversely, skinned alive, so terrible were their truths - so convincing were they of man's inescapable doom: to look upon the face of God and wither in His perfection. This is the music of Wovenhand, and Edwards understands what most religious acts do not - the brightest light can only be seen against the deepest black.
Once a side project of 16 Horsepower, Wovenhand has become the de facto band for Edwards, this brand of dark proselytizing his new-found life calling. Whether or not it's preachy has less to do with the message than the delivery (if you can pick up the lyrics through the haze, good for you), what's more important is that it's never fake. Too often religion is worn as a fad, paraded as a trend, and taught like a story. Edwards religion is in his bones and seeps from his skin. If it wasn't so frightening, it may actually make a convert or two.
However, there is one mis-step, and it's a doozy - track 7, "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars" is a smaltzy, boozy love ballad that I can only hope is ironic. It's simply painful to listen too. Oh well. I guess even Edwards has to take a break from the bleakness every once and a while.
Ten Stones - the good news has never felt so bad.
Getatchew Mekuria, The Ex, and Guests - "Moa Anbessa " - [Terp Records]
rating 8.3
summary Ethiopian jazz legend partners with hard working dutch punk band The Ex, for a combo that is as challenging, enlightening, and entertaining as it is unexpected.
this two person review is by Sage T. and Ethan E.
EE: So they say rap is dead...well, if that's the case, then Punk and Jazz must be positively deceased.
ST: Which is fine because, as they say, you can't be reincarnated unless you're rotten.
EE: Does anyone actually say that?
ST: I dunno...it sounded good.
EE: I'll let it slide cause you're right... just when you think nothing new or exciting can come from a certain genre, suddenly an album appears that reinvigorates not one, but two categories of music.
ST: and two discordant categories at that. Mash-ups aren't anything new, but a true fusion of Punk and Jazz just doesn't happen...let alone a birthing of something completely fresh and unexpected. So without further ado - Getatchew Mekuria, The Ex, and Guests new album: "Moa Anbessa ".
EE: I can see most readers eyes glazing over while doing one of those cartoon head waggles - "yididdy-yididdy-yididdy....say WHAT?"
ST: most readers? you mean you did that.
EE: well sor-ry that I'm lacking a certain, say, familiarity with ethiopian jazz or dutch noise punk. But yeah... when you told me what we were reviewing I have to admit...i didn't understand a word you said.
ST: I believe the exact response was "Getcha Aba-whatsa?"
EE: After enunciating it more clearly, I did recognize the Ex. I've listened to them a few times, and from what little I know, I can still say that I'd never have expected them to be the logical choice to accompany a saxophone legend (Getatchew is a legend right?)
ST: Maybe not a legend, but in the 70's he was producing some really progressive Jazz orchestrations (I hear 'Negus of Ethiopian Sax vol.14' is really something), but still...you have to hand it to the Ex. Ever since punk reared it's malnourished mohawked little head, there's been the constant need to define itself...and you have to admit, hiring an aging ethiopian sax artist is pretty damn 'punk'.
EE: Well, it beats hiring Timbaland or whatever the kids are doing these days.
ST: Really though, as I said earlier, Mash-Ups aren't anything new....and pretty quickly the gimmick of it all can get old. But this is something different...it really feels like these two forces (and a medly of various guest instrumentalists) sat down and decided to start from scratch...reinvent the wheel if you will.
EE: Well, maybe not reinvent anything, but not have a preconceived notion of what they'd create. This music isn't punk, and it isn't jazz...but it has all the elements of each - which when they're jumbled and reassembled like this, you get some really interesting results.
ST: Some tracks sound like Russian Gypsy dirges, not unlike Gorgol Bordello, some have a very Dengue Fever 70's spy-soundtrack feel, some feel like pure noise rock like Black Dice or early Man Man....
EE: And yet it all feels very much the same. Not in a bad way...just in a "how do you pronounce each track let alone pick one as a single" cohesiveness. This is a very much an album meant to be experienced as such....even if they didn't plan it to be that way.
ST: I can see what you are saying.... it does feel like they sat down, let Getatchew start jamming, and then filled in the rest.
EE: And good for them letting experience trump ambition....
ST: Even though at times it feels like the Ex are trying to keep up with Mekuria. The old guy has chops.
EE: It all feels very off-the-cuff and spontaneous, and like all good jam-bands, fills up a single album pretty well with interesting moments. More than that, I'm not so sure, but for this record, i'm hooked.
ST: That's not entirely fair...I for one applaud efforts like this that raise eyebrows when explained, but create magic when executed. This is true collaboration at it's finest, and sounds unlike anything else released this year....or the last for that matter. It's definitively modern sounding and timeless all the same. I can't see kids singing along to it on the radio (a fair portion of the CD is instrumental....and some of the vocals are....well...dutch), but make no mistake...this is an album that deserves to go platinum. Brillant all around.
EE: Agreed. Ignore that you don't understand a word in the album title, ignore the fact you've never heard of any of these guys...ignore the fact you can't stand jazz or punk or whatever....this is something new and worth taking for a spin.
rating 7.5
summary More Xiu Xiu than shouting, Shearwater stretch benefit of the doubt thin - and ultimately prove they deserve it.
Sometime in the last decade the world changed.
I'm not talking about global warming or political apathy or youtube or three-legged swampfrogs giving birth to glow in the dark babies - I'm talkin: when did side-project bands become the norm and not a thin skinned excuse for overinflated self indulgence, stickin' it to your bandmates, and general ass-hattery? I mean, I thought music was dead, I thought the concept of albums and experimentation and inspiration and isolation were all to be cast by the wayside for the over arching goal of getting a song on an ipod commercial, or at the very least something practical, like a Toyota or a woman's razor. I mean, how can I expect to sip a latte along with the latest song by Deerhead when Deerhead is really Crystal Face which is an offshoot of Black Wolf which spent the first half of their career as Fck: Just Fck. I can't. That's how.
So basically, if you love music, and don't just buy products to its soothing pulses, you gotta sprint to keep up because brother, you've just been left behind. Thankfully we've got Shearwater to sooth the jittery aftershocks of trying to find out what Spencer Krug is up to these days. Side project of Okkervil river (with both main Okkervil Riverians Will Shef and Jonathan Meiburg essentially switching off vocal duties) Shearwater turns its nose to the yelps and the snarls and the raw improptu rolicking of records like Black Sheep Boy or The Stage Names and heads deep into the library where it can think and blow dust off books and ponder philosophy and quietly imagine Ye Olden Times with all it's toil and wintery barrows and burlap shoes. And while making a "deep" album is Side-Project 101, Okkervil River had a knack for pinching a nerve in at least one song a record - giving you a jab out of nowhere with suprising force and calculated precision - so what if they could spread it out....a deep tissue massage that washes over you pretty uneventfully until 3 days later you're in the corner, fetal positioned and sobbing.
Maybe they deserve to make an album like this....or at least deserve the benefit of the doubt
No doubt, Rook will surprise you no matter how many descriptors are thrown your way...Think renessance festival meets debate team meets Hieronymus Bosch painting only in shades of grey. It's hard not to toss around plebian non-thoughts like "boring" or "artsy" but Shearwater practically defy you not to. "Listen to our record more than once" it taunts you...almost forgetting to simply get you to listen to it all the way through once in the first place. Perhaps that's the reasoning for sticking "Century Eyes" smack in the middle...the only Okkervilian type track with a pulse and a plodding bassline and, oddly enough, the only one that feels out of place, even if at first it seems like, finally, something worth putting on repeat. So put the record down. It's ok. You didn't like it. That's alright. Go listen to "Black", you've earned it. Now...do you try again?
link to Century Eyes: http://mog.com/sageturk/blog_post/166215
I hope you do. A) I did and I don't want to be the only one, and B) By Jove it's actually more complicated, layered, structured, complex AND listenable than most Okkervil River tracks. There I said it. Take any of the thoughts or themes behind any Okkervil track, write a thesis about it, and what you'd get is a long-form essay full of theremin and harps and glockenspiel. What you'd get is Shearwater. Sure it helps to wait for a rainy day, or a long car ride, but Shearwater is the thinking man's shout-band...and if you've ever thought you should like art-folk more than you do, this is a pretty damn good place to start.
Shearwater: The Motion Picture
For fans of Midlake, or Xiu Xiu, or Joanna Newsom, or the Fleet Foxes, or Vetiver etc: Shearwater push through a concoction that should be overcooked and come out the better band - side-project status be damned. (and if this review seems like a slowmotion backhanded compliment, it ain't - it deserves the score it got)
Comments
"By Jove it's actually more complicated, layered, structured, complex AND listenable than most Okkervil River tracks." I concur. Great review all round.
Thanks for your review of "Rook." I love the record and have only in the last four months really gotten into Okkervil River and Shearwater although I live in Austin...so much music, so little time...I am still in shock that Shearwater is opening for Coldplay (at least that's what I heard). I saw them play "Rook" in its entirety at a small club and it was amazing with the strings, woodwinds, harp, hammered dulcimer. I'm still partial to Okkervil River, though, but love Shearwater, too.
Comments
Oh man, that's hip, thanks for the tip.
Great review. I love the way you two talk about this music.