| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Dave Noisy
Minister of Chaos
Canada
4496 Posts |
 Posted - 08/21/2003 : 15:31:55
|
The author emailed this to me:
http://www.morphizm.com/recommends/mashup/mashup_aug03.html
Frank Black, Show Me Your Tears
I think it's pretty obvious by now that Frank Black has mastered classic rock convention as quickly as he rewrote Ramones pop punk with the Pixies. The structures, of course, are simpler, and there's a premium put on the eternal lonesome, that troubled state of mind -- and heart -- that has informed everything from Lou Reed's revisionist Rock 'N' Roll Animal to the Stones' Exile on Main Street to Neil Young and Crazy Horse's Tonight's the Night.
But there's no mistaking the plaintive vocals about "witchy" women ("Nadine") and depression ("Horrible Day"), or the bar blues progressions ("Jaina Blues", "New House of the Pope") and standard rock structures ("Goodbye Lorraine" and onward). Which is not to say that you've heard all of this before.
In fact, Frank Black's continuing innovations on the genre usually involve his unorthodox content, whether you're talking esoteric wine history (The wines of Chateauneuf du Pape, favored by the Avignon popes, provide -- perhaps -- the contextual backdrop for the Tom Waits-ish "New House of the Pope"), philosophy (upholding the beliefs of Jaina, an Indian religious movement similar to Buddhism that promotes nonviolence and vegetarianism, is what makes life "so hard" for Black in "Jaina Blues") or geography (the idyllic mountain range called Massif Centrale that forms the background for Black's song of same name is both an escape and metaphor for isolation).
BUY SHOW ME YOUR TEARS HERE
And this could be reading into things a bit too much, but that's what always made his music so much fun to listen to. Such scrutiny also distracts you from the been-there-done-that standardization of his tunes; much of what he's done musically on Show Me Your Tears has been done better on his earlier work, especially the amazing Devil's Workshop.
But a ride with Frank Black is always worth taking, because you know there will always be food, drink (there are too many wine allusions to count on this album) and the suggestive open road.
Enjoy the ride. -- Scott Thill |
|
|
NimrodsSon
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1938 Posts |
Posted - 08/21/2003 : 18:51:52
|
| !!!!!WOW!!!!! finally a "4 star" review...No mention of 2-track, the Pixies, 2 albums in one day, or any of that, just the basic facts. FRANK BLACK IS A GENIUS! |
 |
|
|
Omer
= Cult of Ray =
275 Posts |
Posted - 08/21/2003 : 21:11:56
|
| yeah, probably the best review out there of the album yet. |
|
|
|
noexx
= Cult of Ray =
361 Posts |
Posted - 08/22/2003 : 11:57:46
|
well, not to be silly but there was a mention of the pixies.
ryan |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Topic Locked
