SOUNDTRACK: MORPHINE-Like Swimming (1997).
Morphine was always a pretty weird band. They were very different even in a climate when alternative was the norm.
Their difference began with their instruments: Mark Sandman played a 2 string electric bass, Dana Colley played a tenor or bass sax and Billy Conway played minimal drums. In fact almost everything they did was minimal.
Their sound was smooth and sexy; dirty, almost skanky, and yet they were so cool. I got to see them live once in the Hatch Shell in Boston and it was great experience.
While their first couple of records, Cure for Pain and Yes were amazing, this record, their first major label release, seems to disappoint some. And yet I find it endlessly rewarding. You take that bass heavy, smooth, near-jazz and you throw tales of sex (“Early to Bed”) “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man or woman miss our on the night life” or just elliptical stories “Eleven O’ Clock”: (The whole lyrics are “Every night about eleven o’clock I go out” or just weird choruses ” Oooooh French Fries with Pepper.”
And through it all, that glorious slinky bass.
I could listen to Morphine all day.
[READ: March 3, 3009] “Saved”
The Walrus got something of a makeover for this issue. I rather like the new logo, and it seems easier to read overall too. I’m bummed however that they’ve gotten rid of the puzzles pages as that was always a favorite for me.
Anyhow, this story was okay. The content itself wasn’t that exciting, but it was the telling that was pretty enjoyable. In Vietnam, a teenaged boy is being questioned in the death of a 19 year-old American girl. The first section shows his in custody of the police; the second section shows his encounter with the girl; the third shows the boy’s life before meeting the girl and the fourth shows his very first encounter with her.
I wasn’t particulalrly blown away by this piece.
Leave a Reply