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"HiGH ▀ iNTELLiGeNCE tRoLLS"
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a r t i s t : Okay
t i t l e : Low Road
d a t e : 2005
l a b e l : Absolutely Kosher Records
g e n r e : Electronic
r l s. d a t e : Mar/2005
t r a c k s : 11
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 74,2 MB
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"Okay is the work of Fremont, California's Marty Anderson, a
unique and incredible talent whose approach to composition is
akin to a kaleidoscope run through a distortion pedal. Marty's
previous output for small labels like Frenetic, Temporary
Residence and 54-40 Or Fight have earned him a small but
devoted following. After two albums fronting the band Dilute,
two collaborating with Kenseth Thibideau (Pinback, Rumah
Sakhit) as Howard Hello and a collection of older solo material
under the name Jacques Kopstein, Marty created the Okay
persona, bent upon shaping his more experimental inclinations
into pop songs. However, Low Road and High Road evolved and
took shape through far more than mere stylistic intent.
Marty has a chronic stomach disorder, a rare strain of a not
uncommon (yet no less unfortunate) disease which confounds his
physicians and keeps him somewhat confined to his home and
hooked-up to an I.V. almost daily. The disease (a rare form of
Crohn's) had been under some control in the past, but during
what would become DiluteÆs last tour in late 2001, things took
a turn for the worse. Utterly housebound in his Oakland
apartment and destined to packup his home studio and move back
into his parents home in Fremont, Marty set to work on his new
solo effort in 2002.
Outside, the world had become far more chaotic. In his own
life, a long term relationship was coming to an end. America's
role in the world had changed. Marty's role in America had
changed. America itself had changed. What Marty originally
suspected would be barely enough material to call the release
an album became two albums. Duality as structure then became
theme. Low Road and High Road are concept records, but subtle
ones, just as much about personal relationships as about the
state of this country. How does the world stage unfold to a
man, confined to his home, in a state of chronic physical pain
and discomfort? Is patriotism a reflection of the person or the
environment? Is it the personal discovery of the soul of a
nation or a communal denial of it? Love and distress, hope and
despair, helplessness and empowerment, passion and apathy.
Employing the simple and repetitive lyricism of the pop form,
Okay expresses the shockingly unexplored perspectives of the
citizen as citizen, not partisan, in a country at war. In a
political climate where even discussions of unity are expressed
in divisive terminology, he takes the voice of one man (or
another) and sings with the voice of the nation. 'Where am I?
How am I? How are we? Is this right? Why should I care?' There
is a very honest approach to these inquiries, the plainspoken
directness of a personal dialogue that never descends into the
pandering or didacticism that pervades nearly every other
examination of the subject matter.
Yet even as one dwells on the lyrical content and themes behind
the record, the music that unfolds beneath these ideas is
nothing short of breathtaking. Guitars, keyboards and drums are
layered across each other in a tapestry textured with sounds of
boiling, whirring, burbling, whispering and clicking. Gentle
chords collide into each other and romp away together like some
spontaneous rendezvous. Melodies and rhythms chase after
lyrical content, falling out of step in composition in order to
illustrate theme. A gorgeous sonic picture is painted from a
palette of chaos. This is three dimensional composition and
four dimensional sound. And then, of course, there's Marty's
voice. If you've never heard this voice before, you'll never
forget it. The tendency in describing such a voice is to rely
on those handy, easy-to-reach, bottom-shelf adjectives like
'croaking' or 'weird.' The truth is that while Marty's voice is
extremely unusual, it is its qualities of warmth and depth, the
suggestion of an aged wistfulness and gentle humanity, which
truly distinguish it. One thinks of a mute whose heart was
forced to evolve into his larynx to speak. One thinks of deeply
personal letters written on ancient parchment read aloud by the
parchment itself. The voice and music of Okay not only defy
comparison by eluding reference to individual singers or bands:
pick any three bands or singers and you'll still be grasping at
straws.
Finally, there's the trivial controversy of two albums of
material being released separately (yes, in two packages) yet
simultaneously. If we combined the albums, which are indeed
separated thematically, on a single CD, it'd be too long. A
double-CD would require too much of a commitment for consumers
as a debut release. Spacing out the releases would be like
telling only half a story, and press (not you) tends to ignore
the second release in print (generally speaking) once they've
gone to the trouble and covered the first. Who can say why the
double-album became such a difficult prospect for critics (not
you)? Perhaps the results too rarely matched the ambition
behind them. We have delivered these remarkable albums to you
in a single promotional package for ease of reference on your
part and for the sake of economy on ours. Please approach them
separately with as much listening space as they need and regard
them as the amazing collected achievement they are.
Okay will not be touring to support Low Road and High Road due
to Marty's health, but we will be scheduling several special
performances in San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Los
Angeles a month or two after the albums' release. Marty's live
backing band may include (based on availability) members of
Deerhoof, Pinback, Lazarus and Tarentel as well as his former
Dilute bandmate and engineer of recent renown, Jay Pellicci."
- Tag Team Media (http://www.tagteammedia.com/artist_okay.htm)
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01-Bloody [01:46]
02-Now [04:27]
03-Holy War [03:03]
04-We [04:02]
05-Devil [01:56]
06-Replace [03:31]
07-Oh [05:23]
08-Game [03:45]
09-Roman [04:05]
10-Hoot [03:24]
11-Bullseye [08:45]
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44:07 min
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