A beautiful and hypnotic opiate...
A Pilgrim | San Jose, Ca United States | 12/16/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This album is a wonderful piece to play late at night. For several years I played it while falling to sleep, which is something I rarely do, since most music is too distracting for me. However, this album can be listened to actively, but it seems to carry an even greater affect when played in the background for atmosphere.
Vocals are few and far in-between, but when sung they are low and breathy, almost like something you would hear in a low-key smoke filled music lounge. The guitar passages are delicate, simple, often have a high level reverberation, and are frequently repeated. The percussion is often absent, and when present is very minimal and filled with spaces of silence. Then there are string sections scattered about in a few of the songs, these are typically used to add a layer of droning mystery and pathos. Finally, the artists tastefully employ sound distortion, sound samples, and other effects; these contribute complexity and mood, and do not detract from the album. Often the effects have a fuzzy, warm, or warbling quality.
All of these qualities perfectly capture this band's view of life in a bubble: warm, narcoleptic, insulated, somewhere between conscious and unconscious, and vaguely conscious of the outside world (hence electronic effects that sound like heavily distorted radio signals). But there's more, this album portrays the bubble as something of beauty, but something that also carries deep currents of darkness and mystery.
I highly recommend this album. Great for late night activity, moments of solitude and reflection, or just an urge to listen to trippy, somber, low-key music.
"
Very nice
A Pilgrim | 10/31/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Mr. Green hits the drums like the god of drums as usual. Real nice, sometimes trippy music here. Want to know what the members of Modest Mouse do on their spare time? Buy this CD and Sharpen Your Teeth, by Ugly Casanova. It's all good."