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April 23, 2007
Works in Progress: Oh, Canada...
the Unicorns - "2014" (demo)
the Unicorns - "the Unicorns: 2014"
The 2004 release of what turned out to be the Unicorns final single was, at the time, met with a hearty shrug. Aside from rumors of unrest, however, we had no real knowledge that this would be the last offering from the much too brief tenure of Montreal's first real buzz band of the decade. So, knowing what we do now, it seems we should afford the sad unloved "2014" with the attention that a final recording deserves.
The demo version starts with an uber cheap Casio sound, that is A:like particularly manic video game music, and B: catchy as all hell. Then the dynamic duo of Penner and Diamonds come in, shout singing in harmony, tossing off their typically amusing non-sequiturs with a quasi dystopian bent. The most appealing thing about the Unicorns' music was the sense of restless unpredictability. How they would get bored with a memorable refrain, discarding it as soon as it stuck. In the earlier version, that admirable wanderlust actually gets them into a bit of trouble. They abandon a strong motif for a middle section that shuffles its feet for far longer than such a short song can bear. Of course, when the ghostly "dum dum dum dum dum duh duh duh" enters like a rattle snake rattle, warning of the joyous shouted "In full force" strike, not to mention the "la la la" breakdown, all is forgotten/forgiven.
The finished product features no major structural shifts, but is definitely the cleaner, more focused version (as you would hope and expect). The insidious keyboard tone sounds a bit more expensive and less 8-bit, for better or worse (I'm on the fence). The switch from enthusiastic to whispered nervous vocal delivery is a step up, however. The beloved alternating line readings from Nick and Alden are better developed as the song progresses as well. The most important upgrade though, is in that damned middle section. The aimlessness is cured with a steady beat, and some well used empty space. The quiet surroundings allow a sense of building tension as we wait for the funky key lines to finally return. The climax probably feels a touch more exuburant in the demo, but more because its prelude was worse. The finished version is dark and thick, a progression from the band's best song "Tuff Ghost" rather than the guitar based tracks that dominated Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?. Shame we never got to see where it might have lead. Islands are OK, but when oh when will we get new songs from Alden Penner? Why are the heavens so cruel?
//the Unicorns - the Unicorns: 2014 EP buy
the Handsome Furs - "Dumb Animals" (demo)
the Handsome Furs - "Dumb Animals"
As stripped down and primal as Handsome Furs' Plague Park is, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the songs on that record were recorded extemporaneously without much tinkering. Surprisingly, the final product of "Dumb Animals" is altered and expanded a good deal, with more than two minutes added to the song's length. The quavering, in the red vocal bleating from Boeckner is tidied up, and the wailing wall of sighing moans that was the fledgling version's signature sound is entirely excised. In the end, Dan decided to go it alone. He handles it quite well, but the percussive force of the demo's fuzz-alanche is slightly missed, as is the home-y touch of the radio drama subliminally playing underneath.
The added two minutes of doom laden instrumental makes up for the "recording in a cave" charms that the studio sheen negates. In the outro, Dan shuts his primitive trap about "the miracle of electric light" and gives us an excellent death march, full of crashing cymbals, hanging reverb, and slow motion riffing. As a (bad) mood piece, the expanded version is tough to beat.
//Handsome Furs - MySpace
//Handsome Furs - Plague Park pre-order
Works in Progress is where we look at the evolution of songs by comparing and contrasting their various stages of being. It pops up now and again when you least expect it.
Posted by Jeff Klingman at April 23, 2007 02:20 PM
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