The OFFICIAL Unofficial Achewood Message Board
Trivial Pursuits => Arts & Entertainment => Topic started by: Drygioni on June 11, 2006, 02:32:27 pm
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Before I begin, let me first mention that I have never been so terrified in my musical life by some of the songs here. The whole album is a mix of the angelic and the evil, the gentle and the rough, and the good and the ugly. I will, however, bravely soldier on, hopefully forming a semi-coherent criticism along the way.
The opening tune sets the theme nicely; the terrifying sound of the most evil clown-like tune ever is by equal measures horrifying, intriguing and repulsive. Luckily, the tears produced were dried by a rather pleasant rendition of Super Mario-influenced gypsy jazz. The two songs play off each other perfectly, and left me anticipating more of the same.
My enjoyment of the early stages of this disc was only slightly stunted by the third track. While I love Cab Calloway’s work, ‘St. James Infirmary’ seemed overlong and boring despite clocking in at about three minutes. This is not to say it was a terrible song, but after the snappy first two tracks unfavourable comparisons in track length are inevitable. It nonetheless fills the role of a halfway point between video game music and Tom Waits admirably, which is no small feat.
Following closely was one of the albums high points for me: Here’s To Life by The Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution. I loved almost everything about this track; everything fell into the right place structure-wise, there was plenty of energy, and it fitted Q’s disc like a glove. It would be a tragedy if this was followed with a sub-par song, but the Q is canny and the slightly down-tempo, yet nonetheless beautiful Sailor Song by Regina Spektor assuage any fears I had that the album had reached its peak.
A mere two songs on from this another gem presents itself. After Metric’s less-than-stellar contribution to the album, Pinback by Lyon reminds me rather pleasantly of a cross between Range Life and some of the Shins better work. It’s an excellent mid way point for the album, and I can safely say that up until this point I’d loved this mix, despite being mentally scarred by that one song about Starving in the Belly Of a Whale.
Unfortunately, the next few songs did not interest me in the same way the best of the first half way did, although Is It Because I’m A Pirate? is delightfully dreamy. Before long however Mr Scruff gives us a bizarre song about a whale or some other that happily rekindles my interest in the disc, as does the following song, Sabres of Paradise. This part of the album I could consider the high point. The excellent placement of songs by Q throughout the whole album is most apparent here, and the tunes themselves are fantastic. Mice Parade and Peter McConnell both recall the creepy atmosphere of the very first track, which neatly segues into another early jazz song which is happily more pleasing to my ears than the Cab Calloway number from earlier.
The best song of the album, in the form of Benton Harbour Blues Again by the Fiery Furnaces, is just a fantastic song. It has become one of my favourite songs period, and is a fitting penultimate track for this mix. Mark De Gli Antoni returns to close out the album just as he opened it, and the last track forms a fitting bookend; while a bit lifeless, it’s a great choice as a ‘comedown’ song and finishes the disc perfectly.
The one thing apparent through the whole album is Misterqueue’s knowledge of the music he listens to. You can hear the consideration that went into placing each song just right to please the ears of the listener, and the result is a truly excellent album. Anytime I began to lose interest an excellent song comes along to rekindle my wonder at how well this album is made. The mix was a pleasure to listen to, and I look forward to future discs from your good self.
Your score in bold:
Terrible - Bad - Unenchanting - Mediocre - Okay - Good - Swish - Pretty Swish - Very Swish - Perfect
(I apologise for how rushed this review is; it really doesn’t do Q justice, so everyone feel free to contribute with your much better command of the English language.)
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Oh you.
I giggled maniacally at the first paragraph I'll have you know. Giggled! This is basically like treasure and I thank you for it.
Makes me feel bad that I basically typed, "I LIKE JUDY'S MIX IT IS RELY KOOL LOL!!!1111"
Also, I will spend the rest of today reminding people in Sacramento that, for now, I am "very swish".
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Oh you.
I giggled maniacally at the first paragraph I'll have you know. Giggled! This is basically like treasure and I thank you for it.
Makes me feel bad that I basically typed, "I LIKE JUDY'S MIX IT IS RELY KOOL LOL!!!1111"
Also, I will spend the rest of today reminding people in Sacramento that, for now, I am "very swish".
Yet another item to add to the list of words that have massively hugely different meanings between british and american.
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Yet another item to add to the list of words that have massively hugely different meanings between british and american.
*nods imperceptibly*
Indeed. Say, how about a big bowl of jelly and a fag eh? Would you also enjoy some biscuits? Excellent.
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I sure love chips and mayonnaise.
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After a bit research, I now feel very sorry that I called Q's mix 'very swish'.
Wentworth and Flexner define swish as a noun meaning "a male homosexual, esp. one with obviously feminine traits"
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JUDY, NO! we both know what Swish means. Do not let them tell you that it means anything else.
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It is okay Judy.. I knew what you meant. I knew.
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*nods imperceptibly*
Indeed. Say, how about a big bowl of jelly and a fag eh? Would you also enjoy some biscuits? Excellent.
You're a cigarette!