Oh yeah, I'm looking good today. This green really brings out my eyes.
***
The drumming here is as good as drumming can be in a context like this. Give the man a Grammy, or a bottle of scotch, give him a bath, because, frankly, he's dirty. He's done something so beautiful here that I've almost had a nervous breakdown trying to express it in words. He leaves me weak. His drums frame and reframe, saying again and again "look at the song this way, then like this." He's a tour guide and the song is some natural wonder which he completely reveres. "Have you noticed how the piano and guitar interact, pay attention to the down-beat, pay attention to the up-beat, just listen to her voice, to her overdubbed harmony tracks, so lowdown and just out of reach, now listen to that guitar break into a million pieces." His tight drum rolls and tentative snare/high-hat interplay provide a perfect dynamic counterpoint to Marshall's piercing piano chords.
Also, I love it all: The "Moon River" quoting strings, the deep soul guitar, the round tone and careful placement of the bass, and most of all, Marshall's perfect vocals - broken, scared, awed, serene. [Info]
***
"c44" sounds a bit like Kelley Stoltz's "Prank Calls," posted by Sean the other day. But whereas "Prank Calls" is the work of one man, a studio perfectionist with an affinity for the Beach Boys, "c44" is very much the work of a band, a chugging, sloppy team with an affinity for the Velvet Underground. Like early VU, they employ a sort of 1 2 3 go approach to song, squeezing out small climaxes from a limited dynamic range. [Info]
Mega right-on in pointing out the drums on "The Greatest". They're my favourite part of the whole album (is that wrong?). Has anyone found out yet if it's Jim White? Doesn't really sound like him, but he's so good at sounding "straightforward", when he wnts to, that you never know.
Holy crap, this C44 song is five and a half minutes long... But I am a sucker for rattlebanging drums and a full-bodied organ-line (cf. the arcade fire, in the old days). Yeah, two and a half minutes in and this is -fine-!
Posted by: Sean at December 1, 2005 3:29 PMI will be playing "The Greatest" tomorrow on my radio show because we have the lovely single.
Posted by: Taryn at December 1, 2005 10:30 PMi love this double stops song! sheesh! what a great surprise.
Posted by: nicki at December 2, 2005 1:36 PMThat Double Stops song is great! Also, the new Cat Power album is wonderful.
Posted by: Sheeni at December 2, 2005 1:45 PMOkay, so I totally hear the Galaxie 500 connection, but they don't have Soren's sound AT ALL. Well, maybe a SMIDGE of the Sickness Unto Death. But that's it.
Posted by: Yan at December 3, 2005 1:35 PM