Sorry if I posted this in the wrong section or whatever, it's an essay on two songs I like. I might want to blog publish it or whatever but wanted to put it up here first. Thanks. Enjoy!
The Holy Filament kicks ass or Why I love Holy Barbarians
by TheMaggot
I love this song.
I lived in NYC for a short time in the early 90's and there was this [unnamed] girl from Bakersfield CA (who apparently knew somebody or some of the dudes from Korn, like from before their first album, or she knew who they were from around, through people, anyway,) she was all heavy Mr. Bungle, like, early Bungle. I remember she was all about Bungle, probably her favorite band. (I also remember she took her sweatshirt off once and I accidentally saw her breast.) But my experience with their music personally was more about the last Bungle album California much later. First, I remember how right around that time the Melvins said they were going to put out stuff on Ipecac, after Stag and Honky. My favorite Melvins album (but really how can you say that, only if you had to, pick only one, I'd try to get the Maggot or the original Trilogy with C.O.D.) being the Maggot in my car with class d subs very loud with the cigarette lighter cd player on superboost bass or whatever.
Some of em 'sink in' deeper than others
Then also, that same summer, getting into California which just came out, at this house of a friend at the time (which is a whole other story), it was pre-ipod, people were skipping tracks and stuff at that time but I remember we would actually do whole album listens. You just started on track 1 and it played the whole thing until it was over (or started skipping. we had a lot of those, it heightened the vibe a little). One of the final songs to 'sync in' with me was quite different than the rest of the album, and thinking about it now, it actually goes deeper in some ways that the others, to me. The one near the end with little or no percussion and piano and ends with vocal harmonies and strings.
Why is this song so familiar
So when I first heard the Holy Barbarians track on Freak Puke I was like, 'where have I heard this flavor of weirdness before', kind of spaced out stark staccato dissonances, and sure enough I remembered it was probably The fucking Holy Filament track on Bungle California from years ago the times when I was cranked up and the music was cranked too, in particular that Holy Barbarians reminds me of.
Why does this matter to me?
So I feel its plainly obvious why I am pointing this out- the new track off a great album to begin with, like out of nowhere- you know humdrum sort of trying not to be jaded music devourer that I am, like should I listen to the Dopesmoker re-release again, wait for Om's new one, maybe put on the H.A.T. singles b-sides or just admit everything sucks- and all of a sudden Holy Barbarians revives that memory, of getting deep into that other shit from what seems like forever ago, in a weekend party house attic (or back room, or living room, or yard) on psychedelics plus, blasting, really blasting out California, among other hopefully somehow beautifully weird ass-kicking music if we could find it. Such as the Melvins but I digress.
M-Lite
The Dunn-Melvins collab M-Lite is a different thing, separate, equal, in other words, I like all the line-ups genuinely so it's hard to say, but the one thing I can say is, to me, if there were no Lite or Freak Puke, no way is that artist's catalog as good. It's better with, as in it actually doesn't just benefit the body of work per-se by being slapped on, in a way it makes the other stuff better. I have this crazy theory that these side-project-ey things- alternate lineups, etc- the good ones can bring out the ness-ness-ness of the other lineupses' -nesses. It's all about approach and perspective, which Lite offers plenty askew, relatively speaking. I personally have never seen a band in a ten minute stretch do like super slow heavy music with acoustic double-bass then experimental bowing plucking etc with effects then like a Wings cover or sludgey metal into a faster more punk sound, or tweaked rockabilly etc you get the point it's like there's not just uniqueness there are uniquenesses, many, a unique set of things that are sonically or metamusically unique. 'so here we have a highly concentrated amount of aesthetic singularities..' like a future rock historian gestures to a holographic machine calling up sounds and images of the mighty M-Lite.
Right now M-Lite looks brilliant as an idea, and I think it probably is but the thing is I actually don't know for sure, which adds a tightrope excitement quality to it, but to me, it wouldn't matter if people thought it was shit or stupid, because I try to make an opinion's true last word a) the 'sound' and b) the songs. It could be a stupid idea and sound great or a dumb idea that actually kicks ass sonically. I don't really care about the 'idea' as much as the sound. To me this one is among the best ever Melvins releases. And as far as OCD (Osborne Crover and Dunn) they need to cover the holy filament. Cuz then MY HEAD WOULD REALLY EXPLODE
haha
I gotta burn the Bungle CD to play that track now, hope you enjoyed my on the spot essay why I like Holy Barbarians.
Quote from: TheMaggot on July 14, 2012, 12:10:30 PM
OCD (Osborne Crover and Dunn)
:lol:
Sorry im not familiar with the Bungle song i just found that above funny. I'll check it out. You might well be right.
They should have called it "melvins OCD" instead of "melvins lite." Hindsight's 20/20.
i saw Mr Bungle once...i don't remember too much of that show but i cannot say i'm a fan or i know them.i'll check the song you mentioned. sure,Holy Barbarians is great as the whole Freak Puke album. hard to tell if this is among their best releases. after the first listen i thought it was the best thing they did since Pigs of the roman empire. now i'm not sure,some albums with Big Business were as strong as Freak Puke. it's not very important,when you have such talented musicians they can do anything and they never go wrong
It's semi-ironic to mock traditional trio surname-appellated groups I know (ELP, MMW that kind of thing)
but in this case I would have no problem recognizing the individual members like that, genuinely,
except it starts as 'this isn't prog rock, is it?', then you go 'this here is a prog-rock supergroup'
which it's not, or maybe it is to someone, but not me. it's weird rock, alt rock, art rock, rock but heavy, deep.
The Melvins have always been progressive as in vectorially elusive, trajectorially speaking of course.
(as far as I have tried to grasp artist musicians music sounds etc.) Dunn's work is also not classifiable really.
But COD is a fav album of theirs for me, so it wouldn't be a stretch for this fan at all to 'get into OCD'.
(That actually DOES sound funny :D.)
Quote from: black stallion on July 14, 2012, 12:44:15 PM
sure,Holy Barbarians is great as the whole Freak Puke album. hard to tell if this is among their best releases. after the first listen i thought it was the best thing they did since Pigs of the roman empire. now i'm not sure,some albums with Big Business were as strong as Freak Puke. it's not very important,when you have such talented musicians they can do anything and they never go wrong
The downside to me is like built into the upside, as in each release seems always to be at least that good, that it seems a bit short or it leaves you wishing there were more. Their subsequent release does inevitably for me partly fill in that greater picture of whats going on, no more than, just as much, but in its own way, different, and some, like this one, Freak Puke, when that puzzle piece drops the others get clearer so to speak. I never saw a band play the same newly released song, but arranged and personelled two different ways live like that*. It really brings out the song to hear it like that plus the recorded version then nowadays youtube versions pop-up etc. I personally am on the lookout for more live 'See How Pretty, See How Smart' from back in the day.. or any NYC area shows between 1990 and 2005.
*Melvins did A Growing Disgust first with Jared and Coady in NYC Webster Hall and then with Trevor Dunn at Lit Lounge.