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I was so lucky while in Austin to find Gérard Manset’s 1968 at End of an Ear. Up until now, the only other album I’ve had by him is La Mort D’Orion which basically has the same effect on me that reading Conrad’s Heart of Darkness does. It makes you sink deep into a darkness you can’t avoid of which emerging from seems to require too much of you. 1968 is no upbeat pop album but it is a little less devastating overall I feel. You can definitely tell from this given the orchestration how he progressed into the musician he’s become. Definitely worth getting if you can ever find it, as are I’m sure all of Manset’s albums (trust me, I’m always looking. I just ordered Revivre for the wopping new price of thirty bucks…if anyone has any specific suggestions, let me know!)
Fiery Furnaces Bitter Tea took a long while to grow on me…mainly because it basically feels like schizophrenic meandering…a musical version of a postmodern Virgina Woolf. An arty indier Kate Bush also comes to mind, like way back when in albums like The Dreaming and Hounds of Love she was really experimental. I’m going to be seeing Fiery Furnaces for the second time soon and I can’t wait. For awhile I strayed from them and when this album came out, I rejected and hated it. Now…I fear I really can’t lie without it.
I’ve been listening to the very catchy Peter, Bjorn, and John albums Falling Out and Writer’s Block for the past week, mainly because though I repeatedly listened to them when I first purchased them, I wanted to revive my interest before their set Tuesday. After hearing them live (their second set at the Empty Bottle was the best), I have gotten into these songs even more and found myself listening to them throughout the time I was editing photos for their set.
Pretty Girls Make Graves is an interesting band and in some ways, the female lead singer Andrea Zollo reminds me a bit of Penelope Houston-the lead singer of The Avengers) in terms of her stage presence and punk rock-ness. I’ve been listening to all of their albums the past couple of days to prepare for seeing them Sat. night. I find the albums really catchy and tight but I have to say I wish Andrea’s vocals were a little less nasal.
If there’s one album I’ve been playing more and more these past two weeks it is Damon Albarn’s post-Blur side project The Good, The Bad & The Queen. I just love how much character and honesty Albarn is still able to demonstrate, his disenchantment with war and the troubling events of this decade. It touches me on a basic emotional level. Because of this, I also pulled out Blur’s self titled album of which I swear I’ve spent days on end listening to “Beetlebum,” “Strange News From Another Star” and “Death of a Party.”