Christopher (Without His Liver)
Mon Voyage
Independent Release
originally published January 16, 2008
This 14-track cassette was recorded when Athens musician Christopher Ingham of local duo Christopher's Liver was living in New Orleans for a while in August of 2007. Featuring Ingham alone with a ukulele (which I generally find to be a fairly irritating instrument due to its high pitch) and occasional other instruments, Mon Voyage is a treat specifically because it succeeds where so many other home-recorded items don't: its low-fidelity contributes to the intimacy of the whole affair rather than hangs around like an unfortunate side effect. Ingham's almost-whispered singing evinces late-night recording sessions in a shared home where one must be very careful in the wee hours not to disturb the others.
Easily the most distinguished track on Side One is the instrumental "One For The Domino," which is as authentically mento/ blue beat as you're likely to get from a guy living on the mainland. Immediately after this, "Slides" manages to carry the same mood while not sounding even remotely similar. Its echo-unit doubling of a single guitar string layered over single down-stroked guitar chords could've done with a couple of minutes more, but, perhaps here, brevity really is the soul of wit.
Side Two begins with the tenderly gorgeous "Here I Sit," which stands alone as the only song written about Hurricane Katrina that has any emotional impact on me. Ingham is wise beyond his years here, as he sings, "I thank you / For all the things you taught / Taught me homes must be rebuilt / It's not houses' fault"). All I wanted to do after hearing it was walk around my neighborhood with a tape player and tell people "You've got to hear this!" Although Side Two also includes five other songs - including "How Do You," which cuts off (literally, the tape ends) right when the lyrics say "The speed of sound" to wonderful, even if unintentional, effect - "Here I Sit" is the root of the entire collection.
Mon Voyage is the audio equivalent of a visual artist provided with only pen and paper creating something beautiful, charming and, in places, necessary. On this simple little cassette, Ingham is that artist.
Christopher's Liver is playing at Farm 255 on Wednesday, Jan. 30.
Murder Mystery
Are You Ready for the Heartache Cause Here It Comes
Independent Release
originally published January 16, 2008
Not that I'm looking to say something unflattering about any band whose album I review, but it is difficult to find anything negative to say about the band Murder Mystery and its first release Are You Ready for the Heartache Cause Here It Comes. The album isn't flawless, but its youthful enthusiasm is contagious. Murder Mystery is not attempting to make a grandiose statement with its music. The lyrics are playful and almost classic in their subject matter (love). In fact, judging by song titles alone, many of these tracks would fit right in place on a Stax soul recording ("Think of Me," "Baby, You Can Write Me a Letter," etc.).
Playful lyrics and jaunty melodies make this album a very listenable one. The singer sounds a little bit like David Berman of The Silver Jews, while the music occasionally resembles a less orchestrated (and significantly less twee) version of Belle & Sebastian. Granted, there are no jaw-droppers on Are You Ready, and the group often fails to add the dynamics necessary to transform good songs into great songs, but then again, this is apparently Murder Mystery's first effort. From here, though, the band needs to capitalize on the promise exhibited on the recording. I'm willing to bet that at this point, Murder Mystery's live shows eclipse the studio efforts, and overall, Are You Ready is worth the price of admission.
Murder Mystery is playing at the 40 Watt Club on Monday, Jan. 21. See Calendar Pick for more info.
Paper Tanks
Paper Floats EP
Superfluous Umlaut
originally published January 16, 2008
Paper Tanks play that sort of unplugged-but-with-electricity indie-rock that's difficult to pull off. A relatively new act in town, the trio (though Paper Tanks' MySpace page lists seven contributors, including members of Long Legged Woman) is set to potentially make a name for itself. The songs here are modest, fragile little things, like moths in your hand. There's that moth-dust as well, as the production is blessedly hollow and grainy (is that you, Justin Flowers, LLWing the mixing board?), giving the tracks a wispy feel that still has meat enough to flex songwriting muscle.
"Floating" brings to mind Stephen Malkmus home in bed with the flu. "Got a Map" is more along the lines of the New Pornographers, but again with the walls stripped bare and just the one naked bulb dangling. In spite of this thinness, the buoyant melody shines through. I don't want to imply that Paper Tanks are thin, although I'm piling on metaphors that do just that. If the EP were shining with big production and buzzing power-pop, it probably wouldn't work. The sleepiness is the glue that holds it all together.
Paper Floats won't turn our music scene on its ears, but there's enough charm and grit here to make it taste just right.
Paper Tanks are playing at the 40 Watt Club on Wednesday, Jan. 16.
Six Organs of Admittance
Shelter from the Ash
Drag City
originally published January 16, 2008
Shelter from the Ash marks the 10th album from singer-songwriter Ben Chasny. Six Organs of Admittance is the music of just one man, but on this particular record, Chasny enlisted the help of musicians Matt Sweeney, The Fucking Champs' Tim Green, The Magik Markers' Elisa Ambrogio, and Chasny's bandmate in Comets on Fire, Noel Harmonson. Shelter is an album at odds with itself. It's electronic and acoustic, it's minimalistic and abundant, it's psychedelic and monochrome, it's as equally menacing as it is abating.
The album opens to a wall of drone and layered guitar before becoming immersed in ambient soundscapes. It's an aural trip where every accompaniment has been strategically placed, every part specifically arranged, and only Chasny knows the destination. Shelter from the Ash battles and dissects treatises on love, isolation, despair, hope and familiarity, but Chasny leaves it up to the listener to derive conclusions. Chasny shuffles between airy psychedelic folk and melancholy post-rock, taking the listener on an enigmatic spiritual journey that professes emotion without having to say a single word. "Coming to Get You" is scary, period. It's one of the few songs with lyrics, and though it's comforting to hear a human voice break up the ominous dissonance, hearing Chasny intone "I'm coming to get you" makes one want to run the other way.
"Final Wing" is the longest and most fatiguing track on the album, bathing the listener in drone before finally becoming lost in guitar reverb and pummeling drums. The title track serves up a maddening melody that slowly builds and builds before it halts to an abrupt stop. The final result is an album that's as effective as it is confounding, and, for some, it'll take them on a journey that'll lead them somewhere, and lead others nowhere.
Six Organs of Admittance is playing in Atlanta at The EARL on Monday, Jan. 21.
Killick
Bull****
Solponticello
originally published January 16, 2008
No, I'm not being a prude by censoring the word "bullshit." The new album by now legally-named Killick is actually titled Bullasteriskasteriskasteriskasterisk. Yet again, someone has taken it on to build the Athens weirdo extraordinaire a bizarre permutation of musical instruments. Best known in the past for a solo cover of Slayer's Reign in Blood performed on his H'arpeggione, Killick has been very busy as of late, turning Zepubicle (which has also recently dropped a full-length) into a serious band and raising his new "Big Red" to instrumental adulthood. Essentially an inter-species romance between the guitar and harp, made from papier-mâché and wood. The instrument - all 38 strings of it - is capable of churning out some truly unique sounds. By now we've gotten used to the blended sounds produced by the man formerly known as Erik Hinds, so the question is, what does the only Big Red in existence have to offer us?
Considering the wide range of timbres the harp guitar, which is played upright on a spike, can aspire to, the answer is simple: quite a lot. Recorded in one take, Bull**** is hard to swallow if you don't have an ear for improvised music. The 12 tracks jump from a sort of free-jazz aimless picking and strumming to Spanish classical guitar to deliberately obtuse and harsh sections to Eastern sunrise music. It's a lot to absorb, but very fortunately, it's worth being a sponge here. "Fight Day" is perhaps the closest thing to pretty here, but even so, Killick spends time between the melody's lines rubbing the strings and making the wood creak and moan with fascinating results.
Many people scoff at this sort of music, and at first listen, it indeed seems like anyone could tap and slap randomly and garner praise. But the proof is in the tenth listen, when it all starts to unfold into an unrehearsed but still intricate play. It's easy to get caught up in the fact that Killick plays instruments that no one else does, and thus forget that he's a crazily inventive musician with a lot to say.
Killick is playing in a duo with Tatsuya Nakatani at the Flicker Theatre & Bar on Monday, Feb. 18.
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