December 2007

An oldie but a goodie.

Sg, the iPod was good to me on the ride home tonight. Fairly dark (with some exceptions) and rhythmic (with some exceptions). I had such a good time listening that I decided to memorialize. I’m memorializing. There are a couple of tracks on here I feel that I have to apologize for (not in the “I’m sorry” way, but in the “it’s not as bad as you may think” way). For instance, the second track’s full title is “The Flowing Bowl / Máire Breathnachs #1 / The Doon / The Mason’s Men”, and maybe that’s a warning about how long the song will seem to go on. Give it a chance, though. And the fourth track is really annoying, except that tonight I realized that it becomes really awesome if you imagine Jay-Z rapping over it. And the sixth track is a zany cross between Massive Attack and novelty act that just works (and you’ll get more out of it, sg, if you know who Brian Wilson and Pete Townshend are (or were), and if bass abounds). And no, I know, the lyrics in the eighth track are kind of lame. In fact, I’m leaving the eighth track off.

But then there’s track number three, which I had never heard before. What a pleasant bunch of surprises! When the duo began to sing, I thought it was going to be the kind of indie pop where the vocalists try to make up in enthusiasm what they lack in skill, but the woman singing (Sydney Vermont, fwiw) knows how to use her voice. Truly, I think a lot of the atmosphere comes from the juxtaposition of her commercial grade singing and the indie clumsiness of the melody, harmony and the guy (Dan Bejar of the New Pornographers, btw). Or maybe the atmosphere owes more to the Twin Peaks-style reverb guitar set up against disco synth and Mannheim Steamroller-lame snow/space sound effects. Or maybe its the use of phrases like “I’ve got the mange, dear” or “take your Diner’s Club card” (people have those?). Who can say! That’s part of the fun.

Also, the first song reminds me of what I listened to in high school. ‘night!

happy birthday, sg from aquariumdrinker on Vimeo.