ARTIST: East River Pipe
TITLE: What Are You On
LABEL: Merge
GENRE: Indie
TIME: 36:39 min
SIZE: 49,7 MB
RIP DATE: Jan-24-2006
RELEASE DATE: Jan-24-2006
WEBSITE: n/a
Track List:
01. What Does T.S. Eliot Know About You? 02:31
02. Crystal Queen 02:30
03. What Are You On_ 02:03
04. I'll Walk My Robot Home 03:10
05. The Ultrabright Bitch 02:07
06. Druglife 03:49
07. Absolutely Nothing 02:12
08. Dirty Carnival 03:07
09. You Got Played, Little Girl 02:10
10. Life Is A Landfill 02:57
11. Shut Up and Row 02:17
12. Trivial Things 02:26
13. Some Dreams Can Kill You 05:20
Release Notes:
East River Pipe is the kind of artist who should be
totally enigmatic. F.M. Cornog (the brains and only
member of the operation) seems as if his releases
should come screaming out of the ether,
unpredictable and secretive. There should be debate
about whether he exists at all or is actually more
than one person, scholars doing sleuthing. But the
facts are the facts and his story is both remarkable
and laying out in plain sight. Cornog has battled
some serious demons and come out on top living a
life both simple and unextraordinary. He works at
Home Depot and records his music as he can. His
early 2006 release What Are You On? is his first
release since 2001 and is so completely shrouded in
a world view dominated by drugs both legal and
illegal that it gets downright dizzying at times.
Don't think this a Hunter S. Thompson gonzo Fear and
Loathing style look at drugs. No, this is not a
party record. Cornog examines drugs as they function
as our crutches, friends, downfall, and necessity.
He's talking as much about Zoloft and Paxil,
caffiene and alcohol, as he is pot or coke or E. It
seems at times to be a blunt confession from a man
who's relied on better living through chemistry both
to survive and to destroy.
The music is very good. Cornog's style hasn't
changed much over the years and here he adheres to
his lo-fi singer songwriter aesthetic. He writes
excellent melody though his voice is a distinct
nasally twang and, at times, so Dylanesque as to
make you stop and listen closer. Some of the songs
on What Are You On? legitimately rock, there are
instances of soaring choruses and wonderfully
cracked 70's guitar solos.