Friday, October 2, 2009
Music / Post No Bills Hope Sandoval: Singer or Sedative?
Posted by Peter Margasak on 10.02.09 at 12:23 PM
- Hope Sandoval
The just-released Through the Devil Softly (Nettwerk) doesn’t so much have songs as it does a series of atmospheres. Dusky guitar arpeggios swirl and prickle over funereal, stolid rhythms, and the melodies Sandoval sings wouldn’t exist if their contours were sketched any more loosely. Her only tone seems to be hushed vulnerability—which stops signifying much when it never changes—and drummer Colm Ó Cíosóig (My Bloody Valentine) pretty much just plays variations on the same brushes-on-drums zombie throb.
Sandoval and the Warm Inventions play Monday night at the Lakeshore Theater. But I think over-the-counter sleeping pills are cheaper, and if you stay home you won’t have to worry about getting back safely.
On an unrelated note: With a little bit of luck, the fourth installment of the Post No Bills podcast will be up in this spot on Monday.
Today’s playlist:
Shooter Jennings, The Wolf (Universal South)
Gato Barbieri: Chapter One: Latin America (Impulse)
Sister Gertrude Morgan, Let Us Make a Record (Preservation Hall)
Attila Faravelli, Underneath the Surface (Die Schachtel)
Marianne Faithfull, Easy Come Easy Go (Decca)
Comments (3)
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Did you listen to the album, Pete, or are you just going off her reputation? It doesn't sound like you listened to it - as someone who's pretty familiar with her entire discography, with and without Mazzy Star, I have to say this was as focused and cohesive of an effort as I've ever seen her give since the 2nd Mazzy record. The musicianship finally is up to the standards of her voice, these guys (Dirt Blue Gene) really put in a lot of effort. It's not "all over the place" like it's been on her past records, it's really cohesive and she tries new things (listen to Trouble, and listen to thinking like that). And the lyrical content itself is really interesting...for example, she takes normal situations like selling dope (in blanchard) and turns it into an otherworldly epic tragedy. Unreal.
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Yes, I listened to it, several tedious times, and it got more dull each time. It may be more focused and cohesive than her last album, but that doesn't change the fact that listening to it is like watching paint, albeit gorgeous paint, dry.
