June 29, 2004

"Maybe I stayed too long." - Whorl.

Two new songs for the faithful. If you know me, chances are you know that one of my favorite numbers is "Maybe It's Better," a tune by a short-lived Slumberland act called Whorl. The record was released in February 1992 and is catalog DRYL-11 according to this handy site.Whorl also released DRYL-3 in mid 1990. When I think about all the time I wasted, albeit listening to good music, but still, when you look at that Slumberland discography, man, I was listening to Nirvana when all this great music was coming out. I guess I was just a couple years too young to get plugged in to indie rock on the ground floor. Anyway, I didn't actually turn onto this tune until I got to WESU in Fall 1994. This is ripped from my cassette copy of the 7".

This song always blows my mind. It is "You Unplug My Clock," and it is a four-track number featuring Erik B nee Evol, who went on to form Mantaray, and Hugh Gallagher, a one-time author and spoken-word luminary who is now better known as Von Von Von (I am not making this up). Anyway, the two were tight in high school, which happens to be my high school, and at some point crafted this gem from drums, guitar and kazoo. It is seriously awesome.

Here is the New York Times' take on the new Cure record, and here is a video from it. I've always like the Cure's videos, at least the ones up through Disintegration, and this is no exception.

Take two seconds and go here and fight what amounts to a Constitutional ban on gay marriage.

Tony B was right when he said: if we lived in new york city, we'd be here.

That is all.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Per comments on the new Cure album, I think that the All Music Guide review really kind of hits it on the head:

"For a long time, maybe 15 years or so, Robert Smith rumbled about the Cure's imminent retirement whenever the band had a new album ready for release. Invariably, Smith said the particular album served as a fitting epitaph, and it was now time for him to bring the Cure to an end and pursue something else, maybe a solo career, maybe a new band, maybe nothing else. This claim carried some weight when it was supporting a monumental exercise in dread, like Disintegration or Bloodflowers, but when applied to Wild Mood Swings, it seemed like no more than an empty threat, so fans played along with the game until Smith grew tired of it, abandoning it upon the 2004 release of his band's eponymous 13th album. Instead of being a minor shift in marketing, scrapping his promise to disband the Cure is a fairly significant development since it signals that Smith is comfortable being in the band, perhaps for the first time in his life. This sense of peace carries over into the modest and modestly titled The Cure, which contains the most comfortable music in the band's canon -- which is hardly the same thing as happy music, even if this glistens in contrast to the deliberate goth classicism of Bloodflowers. Where that record played as a self-conscious effort to recreate the band's gloomy heyday, this album is the sound of a band relaxing, relying on instinct to make music. The Cure was recorded and released quickly -- the liner notes state it was recorded in the spring of 2004, and it was released weeks later, at the end of June -- and while it never sounds hurried, it never seems carefully considered either, since it lacks either a thematic or musical unity that usually distinguish the band's records. It falls somewhere between these two extremes, offering both towering minor-key epics like the closing "The Promise" and light pop like "The End of the World." It's considerably more colorful than its monochromatic predecessor, and the rapid recording gives the album a warmth that's pleasing, even if it inadvertently emphasizes the familiarity of the material. Which is ultimately the record's Achilles' heel: the Cure have become journeymen, for better and worse, turning out well-crafted music that's easy to enjoy yet not all that compelling either. It's not a fatal flaw, since the album is a satisfying listen and there's also a certain charm in hearing a Cure that's so comfortable in its own skin, but it's the kind of record that sits on the shelves of die-hard fans, only occasionally making its way to the stereo. -- Stephen Thomas Erlewine"

Unknown said...

God, hopefully the record isn't as tedious and boring as that review. Good points. but Christ, Erlewine, put me out of my misery already.