« Album Insanity - Lou Reed bracket - Play In Game | Main | Album Insanity - Lou Reed bracket - 5 v 12 »

March 06, 2007

Two for Tuesday Evening

On the premise that everything, even wildly entertaining sports metaphor nostalgia orgies, should be enjoyed in moderation, a brief nod to the (soon to be) current...

Deerhunter - "Fluorescent Grey"

Deerhunter follow closely on the heels of the widely praised Cryptograms with the equally accomplished Fluorescent Grey EP. Recorded while the full album was mixing, it finds the band delving further into the melody (with an emphasis on the odd) of their schizo LP's second half.

A pretty piano circle is soon doubled by a chiming guitar, itself joined shortly by Bradford Cox and his multi tracked doppelganger. Cox laments life's transience with the ghastly poetics of a young Thurston Moore. Here "fluorescent grey" describes the pallor of a degrading corpse. He enunciates consonant sounds strangely, aggressively even. His words end roughly, a verbal flick to the forehead. Mainly he urges patience, and it turns out that we need a full two minutes to get to the trademark psych bliss out. From there, the harsh edges leave his voice, and it's all high register sweetness. Until the end that is, when the refrain of "patiently, patiently" returns, only this time the delivery is disturbing, almost vaguely psychotic. As if he's talking to himself, halting his exuberance to get close enough to stab you in the throat.

Previously: Deerhunter
Deerhunter Video: "Lake Somerset"
// Deerhunter - MySpace
// Deerhunter - Cryptograms buy

Handsome Furs - "Handsome Furs Hate This City"

So, the Handsome Furs mystery has gotten slightly less mysterious. As it turns out, the Wolf Parade side project's Sub Pop debut, entitled Plague Park, hits stores on May the 22nd. The first honest to God studio material from said album has hit the 'net, giving us a clue as to whether it'll be as gruff and ramshackle as the demos that have floated about. Shall we?

The first thing you notice is that Dan Boeckner has followed his chum S. Krug down the synth rock spider hole, as opposed to letting loose with the sloppy bruising guitar that he's made his name with thus far. The keys sound warm and fuzzy here though, in comparison to his chilly polymath (other) bandmate's. Befitting the minimalist nature of the Furs (the group consisting of just him and his special lady friend Alexei) the only accompaniment the keys get is from a wheezing drum machine beat. The message. as you might expect from the title, is vaguely Luddite in nature. The tempo builds to a climax of Dan dueting with himself, urging in his eight thousand cigarettes and four thousand whiskeys manner, to "black out a million screens." He goes on further, as real (?) cymbals crash around him to sing, "Baby we can get you anything you want, any time you want, but you won't know what it's for." Not a bad summation of the internet age's dawning adolescent awkwardness.

Previously: Handsome Furs Cover Liars, Remain Elusive
// Handsome Furs - MySpace (which finally exists!)

Posted by Jeff Klingman at March 6, 2007 04:47 PM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.merryswankster.com/movabletype/mt-tb.cgi/729

Comments

Post a comment