Davey.
01-08-2004, 12:51 PM
The Mekons. I've been listening to this one a lot lately so thought it might be nice to post a few words about it since it is a favorite. When I wrote the description for my Twilight comp almost three years ago, I remember describing this as being one of those albums that doesn't streak to the top of your best of the year list, but stays in constant rotation throughout the year until you finally realize it is one of your favorites and would be sorely missed if somehow lost. And since then it has probably become even more of a sentimental favorite of mine, one of those rare albums I could listen to most of the day without feeling any overwhelming urge to play something else. Familiar and accessible, but full of spirit and discovery. Populated with real characters, sometimes shadowed in mystery or cloaked in darkness, but living and breathing as their adventures unfold. This is a much more hushed Mekons than in the past. More mature, yet still provocative. One of the main things about it that so endears it to me is the overall flow of both music and ideas. Sometimes the songs seem almost interconnected, though not linearly or literally. Maybe through a recurring melodic fragment or tone or mood. Even in the liner notes the lyrics for each song are tied together with sometimes lengthy narratives. Very nice album, and probably their most vocally rich one yet as well with Neko Case, Edith Frost and Kelly Hogan adding backing vocals behind Sally Timms, Jon Langford, Tom Greenlaugh and Rico Bell.
http://members.mailaka.net/davey/mekons.jpg
Here's a short review by Jim Caligiuri of the Austin Chronicle.....
<i>New albums from the Mekons, which thankfully seem to appear on a more frequent basis these days, are always an adventure. With that as a given, Journey to the End of the Night, their 20th long player, still comes as a surprise. It's surely the band's most accessible work in years, filled with pensive ballads, atmospheric soliloquies, and moody reggae grooves. Though they never truly rage and rock, beneath it all stirs a dense, dark heart. The album's title is taken from a 1932 novel written by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, one of France's most important 20th-century writers, which is appropriate for a band known for its rabble-rouser ways; the tome was shocking and revolutionary for its time, and it's been credited with redefining the art of the novel thanks to its black humor, nihilism, and irreverent, explosive writing style. In that light, the enigmatic attitude and seductive ambience that constitute Journey to the End of the Night's most attractive elements and the hallucinatory, or perhaps more appropriately drunken, lyrics connect in a remarkable way. The effective commingling of vocals from Sally Timms, Tom Greenlaugh, Jon Langford, and Rico Bell, sturdy support from Steve Goulding, Suzie Honeyman, Sarah Corina, and Lu Edmonds, and heavenly guest appearances from Kelly Hogan, Neko Case, and Edith Frost, all amount to an unexpected yet potent collection of songs. The Mekons have done it again, long may they reign.</i>
http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2000-03-17/music_recviews2.html
http://members.mailaka.net/davey/mekons.jpg
Here's a short review by Jim Caligiuri of the Austin Chronicle.....
<i>New albums from the Mekons, which thankfully seem to appear on a more frequent basis these days, are always an adventure. With that as a given, Journey to the End of the Night, their 20th long player, still comes as a surprise. It's surely the band's most accessible work in years, filled with pensive ballads, atmospheric soliloquies, and moody reggae grooves. Though they never truly rage and rock, beneath it all stirs a dense, dark heart. The album's title is taken from a 1932 novel written by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, one of France's most important 20th-century writers, which is appropriate for a band known for its rabble-rouser ways; the tome was shocking and revolutionary for its time, and it's been credited with redefining the art of the novel thanks to its black humor, nihilism, and irreverent, explosive writing style. In that light, the enigmatic attitude and seductive ambience that constitute Journey to the End of the Night's most attractive elements and the hallucinatory, or perhaps more appropriately drunken, lyrics connect in a remarkable way. The effective commingling of vocals from Sally Timms, Tom Greenlaugh, Jon Langford, and Rico Bell, sturdy support from Steve Goulding, Suzie Honeyman, Sarah Corina, and Lu Edmonds, and heavenly guest appearances from Kelly Hogan, Neko Case, and Edith Frost, all amount to an unexpected yet potent collection of songs. The Mekons have done it again, long may they reign.</i>
http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2000-03-17/music_recviews2.html