Tell me something about Otto Spooky
Feb. 21st, 2005 10:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
imomusToday I'd like anyone who's got a copy of my new album Otto Spooky to tell me something about it... and you.
How does this long-playing Momus record fit into your listening routine? What records do you play before and after it? Have you bought anything since, and is Herr Spooky throwing shade or overshadowed? Were you particularly struck by certain lines? Do Otto's musical textures please you? What's great and what grates? Where does Otto stand in your personal canon of Momus records (assuming you have some other ones)? What do you think of John Talaga's intermezzi? Have you fallen asleep to this music, made love to it, got lost in it, jogged with it, played it in your car while driving through a National Park? Did you cover your children's ears when the song about the fascist boyscout came on? (Assuming you have children, that is.) Did your dog chew James Goggin's digipak (if so, print the JPEG above on stiff card and spray it with some foul-smelling fixative). Do any of the songs play in your head even when the record isn't on? When you're at the supermarket, do you ever look around to see if Robin Hood is there "in a wheelchair buying food", kidney dialysis colostomy bag by his side? Are you a top-scoring, panda-topping Lute Score wizard?
How does this long-playing Momus record fit into your listening routine? What records do you play before and after it? Have you bought anything since, and is Herr Spooky throwing shade or overshadowed? Were you particularly struck by certain lines? Do Otto's musical textures please you? What's great and what grates? Where does Otto stand in your personal canon of Momus records (assuming you have some other ones)? What do you think of John Talaga's intermezzi? Have you fallen asleep to this music, made love to it, got lost in it, jogged with it, played it in your car while driving through a National Park? Did you cover your children's ears when the song about the fascist boyscout came on? (Assuming you have children, that is.) Did your dog chew James Goggin's digipak (if so, print the JPEG above on stiff card and spray it with some foul-smelling fixative). Do any of the songs play in your head even when the record isn't on? When you're at the supermarket, do you ever look around to see if Robin Hood is there "in a wheelchair buying food", kidney dialysis colostomy bag by his side? Are you a top-scoring, panda-topping Lute Score wizard?
(no subject)
Date: 2005-02-21 02:39 pm (UTC)As for me, I really like it. The only problem I have with it is that it has some coherency problems. There's a definite contrast between songs 1-9 and 10-15. At first I didn't like the 'intermezzi'--I thought they made the album much too disjointed--but now that I know them better, I do. (Let it be known that 'Oskar Tennis Champion' is my favorite Momus album.) One thing the intermezzi do is force you to listen to the album in the order it is presented. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.
It also took me a while to warm to the production. OTC sounded very crisp and well-produced. This one seems to have a lot more going on in each track, so the low-end feels a bit muddy or cluttered at times. But that means that it holds up well to repeated listens--there's a lot here to discover. And I still haven't dissected the lyrics (I'm much more interested in sounds).
I very much like the direction you have been going in these past few years. Your music has gotten more experimental, exotic, and interesting. And, overall, it remains accessible. The people who continually complain that they want the "classic" Momus don't understand what it means to be a musician.
The only track that sounds unsuccessful to mine two ears is "Mr Ulysses." It's not as dense as the other tracks, and, honestly, I think it slows the album down too much, especially since it's followed by "Water Song." My favorite track is probably "Lady Fancy Knickers." And I like the Eastern sound of "Corkscrew King" and "Klaxon" (I was particularly struck by the latter...though I think it hasn't quite held up so well). And let it be known that I really like "Cockle Pickers"! I feel like I'm playing Monkey Island.
The first time I heard "Klaxon" I expected to hear some fretless bass pop in. I think it would fit in wonderfully. In fact, I think I might rip your album to my computer and try adding fretless bass to some of the tracks for fun. Have you ever considered using steel drums for any of your pirate-y tracks? An underrated instrument, indeed!
Otto Spooky is my most-listened-to album of the year thus far, followed closely by Jeans Team - 'Music von Oben'. They're a newish electronic German band that I think you'd really like, Momus. They even have a track called "Boat Music."
Patrick
(no subject)
Date: 2005-02-21 02:55 pm (UTC)Patrick
(no subject)
Date: 2005-02-21 09:53 pm (UTC)Well, I find myself listening to it a lot. I've never understood people like Nick Cave and Green Gartside who say the last time they hear their records is when they're making them. I seem to have the ability to listen to my records as if they're by someone else. And I enjoy them a lot! This one more than most, actually. Although I wish it didn't get bogged down in slower numbers towards the end. I wish it stayed manic and poppy right to the finish.
I'm pleased that you like Oskar. Some people consider that record a failure, and it is rather lugubrious and... over-produced, possibly. Also, it was made at an unhappy time for me. I was quite isolated in Tokyo, living out the end of an important relationship, with my New York adventures behind me, and having lost a friend to suicide. It's also a post-9/11 record, although it isn't obvious. But the bananaskin-under-Modernism theme does refer to 9/11.
I'd love to hear Otto with extra fretless bass! Go for it. And will check out Jeans Team.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-02-21 10:38 pm (UTC)Er, keep it up!