The Basics: True, Mad & Deep
Clare K. Rothschild | Chicago, IL United States | 07/25/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
""Cosmic Neighborhood" by The Basics is a CD that belongs in every library. It is a millennium-year staple deserving of a reception like the one the public offered the latest escapades of Harry Potter. The "band" (primarily, guitar and vocals) a married couple, Wade and Kelly Baynham, who met at the unlikeliest of venues, Stanford University ("Would you like to come over, I want to see if our voices blend...") use a scrupulously selective and often ingenious minimum of effects to highlight rare and raw talent-the "basics." First and foremost is their quality which is on a par with I cannot think whom. Hyperlinks for this CD might just as well be to classic books, poetry, drama, fine art and dance, as to new music and musicians. Inspired sometimes by nature, other times by religion and culture, their lyrics offer indefatigably ponderous poetry. "Leaving Seattle" and "1942" recall Edward Hopper's painting, "Nighthawks." "The Mystery of Empty" recalls Rainer Maria Rilke. Indeed it is pretty easy to get caught up in the who-or-what-inspired-this-song question with their music. For example, what compels them to ask, "What might the sky hide behind the blue?" ("Nevada Sky") Why do they, whispering with desperation and urgency, implore, "Who might you have been, who might you have loved, who might you be now?" ("Midnight Lullabies") Or, what causes them to wonder, "My barn having burned to the ground...will I be purer hearted now?" ("Fire") To revel in their lyrics, however, is not to neglect musicality. By their own account, Emmylou Harris and The Indigo Girls figure among prominent influences. And, they have well-honed musical skill, too. His voice in "Rain" shows off that happy pair: natural capability coupled with years of hard work. While "Almost Back to Happy" characterizes her as clean, controlled, and occasionally gutsy. With The Basics you get your money's worth from a gamble on music you may never have heard before. This CD is an invitation to a wild and woolly "cosmic neighborhood" where a diverse collection of adults and children ("your teacher's two," "Brandon's all of three") randomly placed in one, tiny, turn-of-the-millennia, American neighborhood meet to compare the warp and woof of the small, individual lives they call universes. On this CD you find expressions of spiritual vacuity and despair ("Impossible Promises") and jubilation ("Cosmic Neighborhood") in melodies of astronomical (check out the CD jacket) beauty, in harmonies that soar or hover or undergird or lurk in an often delectable, often mesmerizing contrapuntal blend, and in an overall experience that draws you into yourself like a probing therapy session, a brilliant novel, a long drive alone, or an intense work-out. Lest you think I lack any critical faculty, I will mention that, perhaps, the rhythm of the CD as a whole is weighted too much toward the beginning with a sense, after track 7, of waning electricity. Nevertheless, there is a place in everyone's life for this CD. Like excellent folk music it places its finger right on your life pulse, both reflecting-and imagining much more for-society. Fame, fortune, and power corrupt. This music offers none of that. The Basics' authentic, grass-roots struggle with social and political ("Story of You and Me"), religious ("this God I love we don't always agree, me and Jesus we're in therapy"), and cultural ("why stand for truth if your career could be at stake") norms affirm thinking individuals in their day-to-day battles with these questions. This is not a cookie-cutter production; it is anything but stereotypical. These two don't quit, don't succumb, and don't settle for trite or kitsch or clever or glitzy or camp. This is honest-to-goodness, heart-rending and -reeling music of the "basic"-in the sense that soon becomes time-honored, classic, and enduring-kind. In philosophical terms, it is a response to the wild and unimpeded splintering of every kind of social community, group, network and personal relationship through the deconstruction movement which has left many, artists in particular, empty-handed. The Basics take you back to the questions faced by the modernist movement, and provide a response more thoughtful, creative, interesting and even startling than post-modernism. Like Nietzsche's penseés, this music is true; like undiscovered Hemingway, it is mad; and like serious yoga, it is deep."
Best yet by The Basics
Kevin Jones | Pleasant Hill, CA USA | 07/08/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Cosmic Neighborhood is the sixth and best release from The Basics. The band has shunned the artistic compromises that major music labels demand and produced a rich, deep, and poetic album.Songs such as "Rain," "Fire," and "Leaving Seattle" are lyrically and musically compelling. Kelly and Wade have created music that is deeply spiritual without using the gimics and cliches that one would find in much of today's contemporary christian music.The musical style is a contemporary, accoustic, folksy rock blend that bears the influence of artists such as the Indigo Girls, Mark Heard, and Bruce Cockburn while also carving out a style that is their own.While they're not hugely famous, they are definitely one of the best out there and worth a listen."
From a longtime fan...
T. James Noyes | San Diego, California USA | 08/16/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The Basics made me late for physics class during my first encounter with them about 10 years ago. They were finishing up a free concert in UC San Diego's (aptly named) Price Center, and after hearing a couple of songs, I purchased 2 of their albums. I was not disappointed with those 2 albums, and their subsequent efforts (including Cosmic Neighborhood) continued to impress me with their meaningful and toe-tapping tunes. It is worth taking a moment to listen to several of the samples - hear for yourself what stopped me in my tracks so many years ago."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1