Showing posts with label possible emotional honesty on display. Show all posts
Showing posts with label possible emotional honesty on display. Show all posts

Sunday, 8 December 2013

Extra Glenns - 'Infidelity' (Harriet)

Oh, to yearn for times past. Harriet Records! The innocence of this all - John Darnielle and Franklin Bruno coming together for three perfect songs, as perfect as anything else Darnielle penned at this fertile time. 'Infidelity' is elegant in its minimalism, capturing that wobbly experience just perfectly with the classic chorus 'I let my hand rest a minute on your stomach / like there was nothing to it'. 'Going to Lubbock' is the sleeper, but Bruno's arrangements, backup vocals and second guitar bring a mild arpeggiated complexity to the chorus that hadn't yet been seen in any Mountain Goats materials of the time. And then the flip - the glorious 'Malevolent Cityscape X', which sounds like an outtake of something from the Peter Jefferies/Alastair Galbraith scene, with it's backwards, sinewy electric guitar line ripping over the verses. It all comes clear for the passionate, practically shouted chorus. It's one of the most perfect few minutes of music Darnielle ever has laid to vinyl (or tape or plastic); it's erupting, wild and yet still recognisable, even iconic. In 1993 nothing could stop this. By repeating the word 'perfect', can I make it clear enough how much I love this record?

Wednesday, 15 December 2010

Cheveu - 'Like a Deer in the Headlights/C'est ça l'amour' (Born Bad)

The way 'Like a Deer in the Headlights' erupts out of the vinyl is explosive. It's somehow bigger and MORE explosive than anything else heard by Cheveu to-date; I can't explain why, though better production might have something to do with it. The sung title is a melodic hook answered by intensifying guitar licks, and it's a pretty catchy little moment. The verses explode in Olivier's usual vehement babble, and then there's a funk-driven bridge that comes out of nowhere. B-side 'C'est ça l'amour' is some rare French-language material, co-written with a certain Sophie so one suspects that if I understood French, this would be something sweet and personal. It's not as much of a new direction as 'Like a Deer' but when you do something well, why stop?