SOUNDTRACK: LAST EX-Last Ex [CST107] (2014).
One of the things I love about Constellation Records is that you often never know what you’re getting. They used to very specifically release a certain kind of music, but they’re now just releasing interesting and exciting music. But also, a band name can’t really tell you what to expect from this label.
So who knows what a band like Last Ex will sound like. And how cool that their first few songs on this are so good.
The disc’s sides are split into Side X and Side XX.
“Hotel Blues” opens with some scattered drums and chords. It has vaguely early-Pink Floyd feel to it. But around a minute in, the synths pick up a repetitive melody and the bass and drums kick in to give it a very Can or Kraftwerk vibe. The song is fairly straightforward, but there are sprinklings of notes—sometimes slightly off and vibrated that add some very cool textures to this pulsing track. It’s really groovy and fun. But it’s “Girl Seizure” that I find so strangely compelling. Again, over simple repetitive drum and bass, the guitar (or keyboards) play warbling notes that are unsettling and yet enticing. The song quiets to almost nothing and then resumes in much the same way—and you welcome that weird warble and its of Moog feeling. At just under 3 minutes its just the right length.
“Flûte magique” slows things down with some simple arpeggios. There’s not a lot to the song, but it is wonderfully soothing as the bass notes tick away and then the guitar notes rise higher and higher. The song picks up speed as it goes along and leads to a middle section that’s almost stiffly funky, if that’s possible. The ending gets a little louder as it thuds to a conclusion.
“It’s Not Chris” opens with some static and strange noises and some soaring keyboards. About a minute and a half in a strange staccato organ melody comes in with a violin sound doing a kind of solo over the top. It’s all a little strange but it drops out in the middle to a kind of sinister pulsing, and when the melody resumes, it seems strangely comfortable again. The end of the song has some high-pitched violin notes that sound almost like a theremin.
“Resurrection Drive” is mostly drums and echoed surf guitar chords. After a minute or so some strings are added to the mix. It’s only 2 minutes long but it introduces some interesting tension.
Side XX has a quieter feel overall. “Nell’s Theme” opens with acoustic guitars playing a simple, pretty four-note melody. The song slowly grows more complex as a violin is added to the song. With about 30 seconds remaining, everything drops away save for a mournful violin.
Thudding bass and picked notes echo through “Trop tard.” It has a slow, spacey feel (like mid-period Pink Floyd). A guitar is added and it speeds up some but still sounds of the era and then settles back down to a languid pace. “Cape Fear” is less than 2 minutes of swirling outer space sounding synths—a creepy, lonely feeling.
“Cité d’or” has more slow pulsing rhythms and more echoing surf guitars and the whole thing feels rather tension filled. Some squealing feedback intersperses the surf guitar. “Hotel Blues Returns” for 1:43. It’s primarily the drumming pattern of “Hotel Blues” with some swirling synth noises (it’s good for headphones). “Hotel Kiss” ends the disc with sirens and then a slow thudding drum and more noir guitars. This could be used in a Twin Peaks scene.
So this album is an interesting mix of rocking songs with unsettling noises and mellower songs with cool synth effects. It’s a great find.
[READ: September 24, 2016] The Black Diamond Detective Agency
I read this book a while ago, but I never posted about it. And that gave me the opportunity to re-read it and, frankly, to enjoy it more.
This is the third book by Eddie Campbell that I have read. I have found his stories to be complicated and hard to follow on first read. They really demand a second and even a third read. Part of it is that he writes complicated and somewhat intentionally convoluted narratives. And part is because of his drawing style.
I love the cover of this book, how it is set up to look like an Old West placard: ORPHANS! MAYHEM! TERROR! “In This the most recent offering from The First Second Quality line of Books. An epic take of a newly industrialized America as revealed in words and pictures by the inimitable Mr Eddie Campbell. Based upon the manuscript of a Kinematographic play by Mr C. Gaby Mitchell.”
And its this last part that I missed when I first read it–that it was based on a screenplay. And this book does resemble a screenplay. However, I noted that in my other posts about Campbell that I’ve said of this book: I liked and didn’t like this book. Well, which is it?
The story is incredibly complicated–with double and triple crosses. And the visuals call for mistaken identity and hidden identity as well as new characters who all look vaguely the same–like pale photographs of turn of the century urban gangsters. But the story is really interesting. So I liked it, although I think I’d like to see it more as a film. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 