ARTiST: Alec Ounsworth
ALBUM: Mo Beauty
BiTRATE: 158kbps avg
QUALiTY: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.97 Final / -V2 --vbr-new / 44.100Khz
LABEL: Anti-
GENRE: Indie
SiZE: 46.80 megs
PLAYTiME: 0h 39min 16sec total
RiP DATE: 2009-11-16
STORE DATE: 2009-11-03
Track List:
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01. Modern Girl (... With Scissors) 3:45
02. Bones In The Grave 3:24
03. Holy, Holy, Holy Moses (Song 3:35
for New Orleans)
04. That Is Not My Home (After 3:57
Bruegel)
05. Idiots in the Rain 4:12
06. South Philadelphia (Drug Days) 3:43
07. What Fun. 3:16
08. Me and You, Watson 3:41
09. Obscene Queen Bee #2 4:26
10. When You've No Eyes 5:17
Release Notes:
--------
Mo Beauty is Alec OunsworthÆs second solo album this year (and first for a
label). They're his first works since he began a (seemingly) purposeful mission
to overspend the goodwill he had accrued after his band, Clap Your Hands Say
Yeah, became one of the first bands to break big via the Internet in the modern
era (a.k.a. 2005). First was the (I suspect) terrible-on-purpose sophomore
album, Some Loud Thunder, then a few years of radio silence amidst talks of
possible band break-ups. Then earlier this year, Ounsworth announced plans to
release two solo albums. Flashy PythonÆs Skin and Bones, an album that is
essentially Clap Your Hands Say Yeah minus the other dudes in the band and with
a few guys in Man Man and Dr. Dog, and Mo Beauty.
Mo Beauty, since Ounsworth announced it, has been the more promising venture,
because it pairs his froggy, unfortunate voice with a coterie of New Orleans
session men known for contributions to New Orleans jazz and R&B albums. The
album largely lives up to its billing as a more song-based project, with
OusnworthÆs metaphorical lyrics placed center stage, but itÆs the session men
who shine here. They give the songs an authenticity that is hard to replicate
and hard to ignore.
For Ounsworth, picking New Orleans as the place to launch his proper solo career
probably has less to do with the publicity that comes with picking the crime
scene of the greatest tragedy in American history, and more to do with the
hymnal nature of these 10 tracks, and the unique sounds New Orleans musicians
could bring to the project. Dusty brass gives ôThat Is Not My Homeö a torch song
immediacy, while the sauntering creep-jazz of ôBones in the Graveö drives home
OunsworthÆs morbid tale of kicking bones. The band serve as
atmosphere-bolstering bystanders on ôHoly, Holy, Holy Moses (Song for New
Orleans),ö the only time Ounsworth lets his surroundings creep into his lyrics.
But itÆs not all serious. ôIdiots in the Rainö introduces a joviality that
Ounsworth has never really put on display before, and ôMe and You, Watsonö is
just short a backing chorus to be a '70s-era soul stomper.
The short recording time (a few weeks) of Mo Beauty begins to show in moderate
flashes, as a handful of tracks here are on the slight and inessential side. But
the main story here is Ounsworth rehabbing his image. With help from seasoned
pros, heÆs delivering (to an extent) on the promise many saw in him after Clap
Your Hands Say Yeah. He might not ever write another ôUpon this Tidal Wave of
Young Bloodö again, but at least Mo Beauty is better than Some Loud Thunder.