SOUNDTRACK: ERIC CHENAUX-Skullsplitter [CST112] (2015).
An album named Skullsplitter sounds like it should be really heavy and loud. But if you know Chenaux, you know that that’s not his thing at all. So what wins?
The traditional Chenaux wins. At times light and beautiful and at times wobbly and disorienting, Skullsplitter sounds like many other Chenaux releases. And you either like him or you don’t. His slow songs, vibratoed guitar and really delicate voice either win you or not.
“Have I Lost My Eyes?” has one of the most wobbly guitars I can thing of (even for him). The slow electric guitar solo is pretty much perpetually played with wah-wah bar in motion. After 90 second of this, Chenaux’s delicate tenor voice comes in and sings a melody that is not exactly suited to the music, but which doesn’t sound off, either. Classic Chenaux.
Alternating with the vocal pieces are instrumentals. Chenaux plays a lot of ringing and delicate solos and overdubs them. And the instrumentation is pretty varied: Voice, electric guitar, un-amplified electric guitar, nylon-string guitar, speakers, melodica and electronics. “The Pouget” is roughly two minutes long. “My Romance” has a kind of warbling guitar solo over some mellotron. “The Henri Favourite” is another 2 minute slow piece with a slow guitar solo played over some keyboards. The last instrumental is quite different. “La Vieux Favori” changes the tone with a bowed sound (although you can see there’s no violin listed–he must be bowing the guitar). It doesn’t have the same smoothness as the other songs, although it is certainly interesting, especially near the end when it is just that bowed instrument with no accompaniment.
“Skullsplitter” is, as I said, a mellow song just like the others. His voice is relaxing and calming and the music is also mellow with waves of keys. I’ve never really tried to figures out the words to any of his songs before–he sings so slowly it’s kind of hard to follow the thoughts. But the lyrics to this song are the cover art. And seeing them printed, I still don’t know what they mean.
“Spring Has Been a Long Time Coming” is the most friendly song of the bunch–music and vocals meld perfectly, and Chenaux’s guitar sounds beautiful. The 8-minute “Poor Time” has a jazzy feel as it unfurls slowly. It intersperses his vocals with a delicate but wildly-wah-wahed solo. The final track, “Summer & Time” ends the disc with some pretty acoustic guitars and Chenuaux’s delicately soaring voice.
[READ: June 1, 2016] Lighter Than My Shadow
I was looking on the shelves in the library for some books and I saw this book on the shelf next to them. I loved the title, Lighter Than My Shadow and when I pulled it off the shelf, I really liked the drawing style that Green employs.
I genuinely had no idea that this book was going to be about woman suffering from body issues and anorexia. It all seems obvious, but i didn’t look that closely at first. Such a topic could be really hard to read about, but I was also really surprised and delighted at how good the book was.
She covers her mental state in all capacities. And she really demonstrates the way her body rebelled against herself. In fact, this was the most compelling and complete look at anorexia that I have ever seen.
There is something about the way her drawings style–simple figures and even simpler backgrounds work perfectly in this story. She is able to show herself getting thinner without resorting to shocking illustrations (well, there are one or two mildly shocking ones). The most effective part of the book is the black scribble that hovers around her representing her interior self. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 