SOUNDTRACK: TRES MTS.-Three Mountains (2011).
Tres Mts. are a side project that features dUg Pinnick from King’s X and Jeff Ament from Pearl Jam. It also features Mike McCready from Pearl Jam on some solos (and he played live with them as well). The drummer is from the Fastbacks, but I don’t know the Fastbacks.
To me this sounds like a King’s X project–dUg is just to powerful a presence to not dominate. And of course there is some heavy off-beat stuff, just like King’s X. The biggest differences are the lack of harmonies and the more screaming guitar solos. And yet it also sounds a lot like a Pearl Jam record–Ament writes most of the songs and his Pearl Jam instincts are in full force.
Overall the disc plays with different sounds–some hard fast rockers a few slow soulful numbers and some big choruses.
“My Baby” is a fast blast of rock–one might even say dUg fronting a Pearl Jam song (Mike McCready plays a wailing solo). “Oh Lord” has some really dissonant chords on it, it shows the noncommercial side of the band. I really like it, although I gather it’s not a favorite of others. “God Told Me” sounds a bit more like King’s X’s slower ballads with gentle vocals. “Makes Me Feel” is a meandering, atmospheric song with subdued vocals and tribal drums–Pearl Jam makes songs like this although it’s unusual for King’s X. dUg does the whispery vocals really well.
“Holes in the Road” is just a straight out rocker–pretty much a classic rock song. “In the Middle” and “Life” are gentle ballads. I get “Life” stuck in my head quite a lot. “Afrosheena” is a beautiful soulful song–dUg’s voice soars through the chorus–it really highlights what a great voice he has. “She’s My New Song” has more of that classic rock feel–guitar solos after every verse. This song feels like it could be thirty years old, it’s great.
“Utah” is probably my favorite track on the disc–it’s funny (“she moved to Utah…with the mailman”), it’s fast (the opening riff is great), it’s got stop and start sections and a little dissonance, all in under 3 minutes! “Break” is a slow ballad that opens like a Pearl Jam ballad–a beautiful slow guitar intro. The final proper song is “Mystery” a noisy rocker with dissonant chords and interesting guitar sounds. The bridge is very King’s X.
The disc ends with “Shes My New Reprise” which is an instrumental (mostly) jam of “She’s My New Song” that gets super fast at the end (with bongos!). It’s a great fun ending to a great fun record.
These three (four) guys hit all the right strides on this record.
[READ: July 13, 2012] “Kikwaakew”
Sometimes it’s fun to read a story about something that is completely unfamiliar to you. In this case, this is a story about a Cree man trapping animals in the snow. Xavier, who has only one leg (!), is away from his sons looking for the animals he has trapped. Xavier has had a hard life. His wife died giving birth two his twin boys, and he has to work very hard during the winter to have sustenance for the year.
Before this journey his Aunt Niska came and told him she would use her shake tent and offer prayers. He knows that she is trying to tell him something from far away–possibly that something bad is coming. He can just tell, from the way something seems to be watching him.
This was a fascinating look at trapping–how he baits his traps but has to snowshoe (with the prosthetic keg) out to check them all. He hopes to find a fisher (I had never even heard of this animal) which is like a giant weasel, whose pelt will give them enough money for the rest of the year. He knows there is a fisher around, and he is trying his best to catch it, only to find that something has taken his bait and destroyed the traps. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: MOXY FRÜVOUS-You Will Go to The Moon (1997).
Moxy Früvous’ fourth disc is their most well-rounded. It runs a full gamut of styles from pop to silly to ragga and a capella.
I Just Read About That... 