Our Channels As I wrote yesterday, I'm currently cleaning out my work desk in advance of my departure from my job on Friday. In the process, I'm coming across all sorts of CDs. Rather than just throwing them in a bag and bringing them home, I'm trying to write about some that I really should've mentioned sooner.
Of course, in doing so I'm being reminded of why I didn't write about some of the artists in the first place. Take Jason Bajada, for example. His recent album, Loveshit
Unfortunately, there's not a lot to say beyond that. The one truly memorable song on the album is "You Are A Runner (And I Am My Father's Son)"...which, obviously, is a Wolf Parade cover. Beyond that, it's just all pleasant passable -- not something you'd turn off if it happened to come on, but not something really worth seeking out.
Also leaving me a little baffled: Black Mold, the electro-glitch alter-ago of Chad VanGaalen. I have a hard enough figuring out what to make of his "normal" music; when he ditches vocals entirely and just explores his most far-out musical inclinations -- as he does on Snow Blindness Is Crystal Antz -- I haven't any idea where to even begin. All I can say is that the whole album's sound is captured in tracks like "Metal Spider Webs" and "Tetra Pack Heads", so if those do it for you, then you're guaranteed to love the rest of it.
Less impenetrable is the self-titled debut
What might be surprising, however, is that the album is still a little difficult to get into. After all, Penner is one of the principals behind the unforgettable catchiness of Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? (one of my favourite albums of the last decade). With that sort of pedigree, you might expect him to come up with something a little more poppy than what's on here. Instead, while Clues' debut has hints of The Unicorns (particularly on tracks like "Perfect Fit" and "Remember Severed Head"), for the most part Penner and cohort Brendan Reed have come up with a collection of songs that are more abrasive and less accessible than anything Penner's old band came up with, as songs like "In The Dream" and "Let's Get Strong" demonstrate.
Ultimately, I'm still not sure whether I like the album. I've been listening to it on-and-off for the last seven months or so, and every time I think I'm coming to a conclusion on it, I hear something that makes me change my opinion entirely. In some way, though, that alone makes me think it's worth recommending -- if the objective of art is to make you think about your opinion, then Clues' debut does exactly that. It's challenging, to be sure, but given enough time, it's a challenge that could have a big pay-off.