Mum - Summer Make Good
1. hú hviss - a ship / 2. weeping rock, rock / 3. nightly cares / 4.
the ghosts you draw on my back / 5. stir / 6. sing me out the window /
7. the island of children’s children / 8. away / 9. oh, how the boat
drifts / 10. small deaths are the saddest / 11. will the summer make
good for all of our sins? / 12. abandoned ship bells
Fat Cat / 12 April 2004
Tα albums των Mum μοιάζουν σαν εκείνα τα
μουσικά κουτάκια, που τ’ ανοίγεις και για κάποιο μυστήριο λόγο, θυμάσαι
τα παιδικά σου χρόνια, ή κάτι τέτοιο τελοσπάντων. Όμως, δεν θα τα έλεγα
και παραδοσιακά μουσικά κουτιά, π.χ. από εκείνα τα ξύλινα που παίζουν
τον ‘καρυοθραύστη’ κλπ κλπ. Μια πιο μεταλλική έκδοση μάλλον, full of
sparkling pinks and greens and yellows. A ναι! και μπλιμπλικομελωδία !
(‘synthpost’ maybe ?)
To συγκεκριμένο ‘μουσικό κουτί’ πάντως,
είναι αρκετά πιο υποτονικό και πιο σκοτεινό απ’ τα προηγούμενα, όπως τα
χρώματα στο εξώφυλλό του. So…what happened? The ‘kids’ grew up? Kids
sometimes do.. And then they might need a summer to make good for all
of their sins. But, would it?
Mum are optimistic about that:
And summer will make good for all of our sins
if we only wish it hard enough
Did they wish hard enough though? And how? Singing? Οπωσδήποτε, τα φωνητικά δεν ήταν ποτέ το δυνατό σημείο των Mum. Και στο Summer Make Good τα κομμάτια με φωνητικά είναι ακόμα περισσότερα απ’ ότι στο Finally We Are No One , με ό,τι συνεπάγεται αυτό, κακό (nightly cares) ή καλό ( the island of children’s children, will the summer make good for all of our sins?).
Κομμάτια όπως το hú hviss - a ship και το stir
παίζουν με τις πολύ λεπτές αποχρώσεις του ήχου, όπως ένας ζωγράφος
σχηματίζει μια εικόνα με τις σκιές του. Lots of delicate shades of grey
there…
Τα weeping rock, rock και sing me out the window θυμίζουν τις πιo ‘ζωντανές’ και παιχνιδιάρικες μελωδίες του Finally We Are No One και του Yesterday Was Dramatic Today Is Ok.
Τα the ghosts you draw on my back και oh, how the boat drifts
είναι αρκετά συμπαθητικά, αλλά εν τέλει απλά ‘επιπλέουν’.
Τα the island of children’s children και will the summer make good for all of our sins?
είναι, κατά τη γνώμη μου,τα καλύτερα κομμάτια του album. Εδώ oι
μελωδίες, χωρίς να χάνουν τη μελαγχολική εσωστρέφειά τους, καταφέρνουν
να κολυμπήσουν μέχρι το ‘νησί των παιδιών των παιδιών’. Fragility
prevails… and takes over.. Αν oι Mum αποφασίσουν να συνεχίσουν να
χρησιμοποιούν περισσότερο φωνητικά, ελπίζω το επόμενο album τους να
έχει πιο πολλά κομμάτια σαν αυτά.
Hmff.. σαν album λοιπόν είναι μέτριο, but.. i guess Summer Make Good did try to get a little closer to the abandoned ship and gave us some beautiful, though kind of faint, bells to listen to..
After all, we were warned:
Who go cry for hammer in her teeth
We'll spoil her pretty face at least she feels real
oh my.. one should definitely not confuse children with angels.
Faery
a a review inspired by Dali's “paranoid-critical revolution” and the romantic poets of the 18th century..
oh well it's not a good time for reviews..i hope this works....
In
the end of a dark tired year everything looked pretty much grey...yeah it was summer all right..but still.. all those buildings blocking my sun...a gloomy state of mind..a desperate need for melody that would cling to my mind and block all those bad thoughts..until this came along...
"well it was a mazy run
but for now just close ur eyes love..."
the words that have haunted my speakers the past months..that
"across the wire' again(n again n again n again n again)...it's been a while since i've fallen in love with a song..n it just had to be one of those bittersweet ones..i guess that's how it goes..
Blue States did it this time..Mr Dragazis is a wonderful example of a musician who evolved both nicely and correctly through time..and has had the -maybe once in a lifetime- chance to meet his musical match ...mr Carr that is....and they are actually a band now ...
The result of this collaboration,
the soundings that is, kind of made me realise why people form bands (besides the fun of it all of course)..why solo stuff are usually below expectations and why even the greater music personas (should) require some kind of help in their projects..
Opinions on this album made me realise the subjectivity of it all..and how thin the lines actually are..when it comes to
soundings..music..but that's a whole different story..maybe not every kind of music is for all..maybe it’s a matter of influences…maybe i'm just confused..
..but
we take joy in being confused right?
Back on track!!with my humble remarks..
As i happened to listen to the previous Blue States album
Man Mountain (the one with the lovely
"season song"), one thing was bluntly obvious..that there was something missing!!
The music was there..a bit too flaunting maybe from time to time...like puting a whole lot of instruments together and not much thought to it..
But there were no words..
(well, there were some..but nothin like :
“When the heavens open for you
Hell never stops loving you.... ”
sad song
and
“insane eyes empty rooms…” for example..
or sticky chorus lines like :
“Oh No no no no no no not the last blast again...oh no no no no…...”)
This is mr Carr's contribution..lyrics(quite close to my soul)n vocals (so sweet to my ears)..
(maybe he's into those romantic poets of the 18th century as well..or those other ones..of the 80s..i wonder what he thought of the latest morissey album..or what is his fav joy division song..)
Apart from that, there is a certain continuity between these two albums when it comes to the melodies..with the difference that
the Soundings are quite darker and more introverted..focusing on the good old threesome: guitars,drums,bass(occasionally) , putting the strings aside and replacing them with synths when needed…
Of course there are still marvelous instrumentals:
"one night in Tulane"..discreetly dramatic, with great drums (very rythmical) and that dash of wind instruments..mourning over something..
or
"output' more eerie n retro..my kind of stuff..
n the trippy
"alright today"..very very convincing.."I’m alright today…"...
And of course the single..
"across the wire'..
the whole album in itself..A song that sounds great everytime u listen to it....when u wake up in the morning,with ur afternoon ride home,while watching the perfect sunset (ideal for that liquid time right after that...),late at nite after a whole lot of after-hours dancing….
There are happier tunes...like the dreamy poppy guitars of
"the last blast"... or "for a lifetime"..
On the other hand while listening to
"sad song"
or
"ten shades" u realize that this moving to London kind of messed with their mind..the synths create a hypnoptizing effect..(lovin the closure of "ten shades")...while the gentle deep melancholic voice of Carr
makes his
unshelfish offering...
"...if you're looking for a soul
You can have mine
If you're looking for a soul
Ten shades blacker than your own..."
..............
..............
" As bad as it gets you can always eject
But the passengers - they'll all go down ..."
"ten shades"
So..in this world of the golden mediocrity (with all respect, for this sets and keeps the balance....),in these times of -ables and in-betweens.. where “pretty good” sets the standard...Where does this album stand??Well for me, a cut above the rest…..
I don’t know if it’s the atmospheric guitar sound, or those reminiscent drums or the melancholy of this voice..but it brings to my mind so many stuff I have and will love (from the Names to the Walkabouts)..and there has to be some sort of magic in there..a twirl of happiness and sadness..along with some autumn leaves and grey clouds and elusive sun rays...
The drummin snaps me out again.."across the wire" is still on..that 3min sthng point that always makes me shake my head...
“under the grey skies
don’t ever lay down......
under the grey skies.........
.............................
...............”
yeap! there was nothin but sun when we laid our tired bodies down...
