The Last Stop on this Line was Cooler Guy Station; It’s as Far as I’ll Get Tonight
Tuesday. I'm having another busy day here today. I was trying to get some of my pre-website upload work done that I have to do today, but due to technical issues beyond my control, I could not access the information I need. According to IS, they couldn't give me my report until they fix a corrupted job file in Massachusetts. Apparently, this problem was holding up the rest of the reports. Why they didn't just cancel the job so the other ones will complete, I don't know (I guess that's what they pay the IS staff the big bucks for...). Anyway, five hours later they finally ran the job so I am now trying to speed through putting this report together so I can get it out by the end of the day. Awesome.
As promised, I have more Beulah today. Today's album is entitled The Coast is Never Clear. Now, I really liked yesterday's selection When Your Heartstrings Break but I liked this one even more. Apparently (and I'm getting my information from Wikipedia now) after the band finished touring from their first album, the lead singer took time off and lived in Japan. From there he would send demos back to the other members of the band, who would in turn re-interpret and/or add onto the snippets and send them back. Since various band members each heard different things, the tracks soon became a juxtaposition of several interpretations of the same song. Another interesting quirk is that the lead singer became diagnosed with bi-polar disorder during this time, so while the songs sound happy and cheerful on the surface musically, the lyrics actually display quite a different message.
I learned all of this trivia after I heard the album this morning, so it just adds onto my already strong first impression. This album kind of reminded me of The Thrill's So Much For the City, but since it was released several years before that album, it should actually be the other way around. However, I heard The Thrills first, so I have to use that as my point of reference. Anyway, they reminded me of The Thrills because they kind of have this happy California sound to them (the Wikipedia write-up called it a "breezy, summery feel"). The music here is much more rich than the Thrills, and again utilizes a horn section and other instruments to add texture.
The whole album is good, but I really enjoyed the track A Good Man is Easy to Kill. If you are interested in checking out the Beulah sound, I think that tune is a good place to start. I am again recommending an album solely on its strong first impression, but I am pretty confident on this one. Definitely good stuff.
As promised, I have more Beulah today. Today's album is entitled The Coast is Never Clear. Now, I really liked yesterday's selection When Your Heartstrings Break but I liked this one even more. Apparently (and I'm getting my information from Wikipedia now) after the band finished touring from their first album, the lead singer took time off and lived in Japan. From there he would send demos back to the other members of the band, who would in turn re-interpret and/or add onto the snippets and send them back. Since various band members each heard different things, the tracks soon became a juxtaposition of several interpretations of the same song. Another interesting quirk is that the lead singer became diagnosed with bi-polar disorder during this time, so while the songs sound happy and cheerful on the surface musically, the lyrics actually display quite a different message.
I learned all of this trivia after I heard the album this morning, so it just adds onto my already strong first impression. This album kind of reminded me of The Thrill's So Much For the City, but since it was released several years before that album, it should actually be the other way around. However, I heard The Thrills first, so I have to use that as my point of reference. Anyway, they reminded me of The Thrills because they kind of have this happy California sound to them (the Wikipedia write-up called it a "breezy, summery feel"). The music here is much more rich than the Thrills, and again utilizes a horn section and other instruments to add texture.
The whole album is good, but I really enjoyed the track A Good Man is Easy to Kill. If you are interested in checking out the Beulah sound, I think that tune is a good place to start. I am again recommending an album solely on its strong first impression, but I am pretty confident on this one. Definitely good stuff.
posted by john at 4:06 PM
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