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█░░░░░ ▄▀ ██▓▌ peps_[BaFH] ▄█████▓▓▓▓██▀ ▐▀ █▓▓▒▒▒░░ █
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E S C A P E R O C K S Y O U R S T E R E O W I T H
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██▒░░░ ░░▒▓██ ARTIST ∙ Cass McCombs
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▐█░ ESCAPE ░░▒▓█▌ TITLE ∙ A-RETAIL
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█▒░ PRESENTS ░░▒▓█ LABEL ∙ Monitor Records
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░░▒░▒▓▀████░░ RIP DATE ░░▒▓███░░ ░░▒▓██ ▓
░░░░▒▒▓▓█░░ ∙∙∙∙∙∙ ░▒▒▓█░░ KBPS ... 192 ░░▒▓██ ▒
░░ ░░▒▓▐█░ 08/13/2003 ░▒▓█▌░ ░▒▒▓█▌ ▒
░ ░░▒▒█▒░ ░░▒▒▓█ TIME ... 46:49 ░░▒▓▓█ ░
░ ░░▒█▒░ STREET DATE ░░▒▒▓█ ░░▒▓█▌ ░
░ ░░▒█▒░ ∙∙∙∙∙∙ ░░▒▓▓█ GENRE ... Indie ░░▒▓█▌
░ ░░█▒░░ 05/20/2003 ░░▒▒▓▓█ ░▒▒▓▓█
░░▐█▒░ ░░▒▒▓▓█▌ TRACK NO .... 11 ░▒▓▓▓██▄ ░
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No. Track Time ░
░
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01 I Went To The Hospital 5:14
02 Bobby, King Of Boys Town 3:47
03 What Isn t Nature 4:48
04 Aids In Africa 5:42
05 A Comedian Is Someone Who Tells 3:30
Jokes
06 Gee, It's Good To Be Back Home 2:59
07 Meet Me Here At Dawn 3:39
08 When The Bible Was Wrote 4:06
09 My Pilgrim Dear 4:50
10 Bedding Down Post Xmas Time 3:54
11 My Master 4:20
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total time: 46:49
.. R I P P E R ' S N O T E S ..
I have never sent out a SASE in my life, and I'm not about
to start now. Whenever a reasonably well-heeled corporate
entity asks me to perform the bizarre act of mailing an
envelope in an envelope, the pettiness makes me shudder.
Newcomer Cass McCombs has the nerve to request a
self-addressed, stamped envelope from anyone who wishes to
read the lyrics to his debut full-length-- and truth be
told, I almost complied.
Cass McCombs is an intriguing man. His songwriting abilities
are undeniable but weirdly de-emphasized. His reedy voice is
either awfully affected (he sounds like Procol Harum's Gary
Brooker, or like a male Maria McKee) or poised to become one
of our Great Acquired Tastes alongside Robert Smith's meow
and Stephen Malkmus's yawn. A, while a fine album, is full
of head-scratching choices; just as its harsh lyrics policy
can't be explained by financial reasons (the inside of the
CD booklet is wasted on a large Pollockian doodle), some of
the production touches are just as odd. But it does make you
suspect that we're dealing with a genius-- one that has yet
to be properly framed.
This music, designed to resist classification, is basically
(horrors) indie rock, except with a crooning pianist at the
helm. Stop before you imagine Ben Folds: everything here is
solemn and slow, and glistens with analog reverb.
Shoegazing, with wing-tip shoes. The lyrics appear fittingly
sad and literate. The album's first track, "The Hospital",
wastes little time before imagining the protagonist's
demise: "I may soon be gone/ To pluck on a harp/ Like those
colored-pencil portraits of dogs/ We saw on a blue tarp."
Not sure about the blue tarp. Could be Plutarch.
Dreamy and disturbing, "The Hospital" is a terrific song,
and folks at Monitor are correct in focussing on it as The
Single. It also sets the tone for about 80% of the disc--
literally. Over the course of the next ten numbers, there
are precious few deviations in tempo, style or delivery; the
same pall hovers over the entire record. "AIDS in Africa",
meanwhile, achieved distinction by annoying me. Delivering
the title line in an urbane croon just doesn't work. If
McCombs is going for Situationist-style semiotic
disorientation, it's way too convoluted a gag.
The two relatively upbeat tracks are "Bobby, King of Boys
Town", which sounds like Blondie's "The Tide Is High" on
15rpm, and "When the Bible Was Wrote". The latter, fast by
McCombs' standards, is a shaggy piece of Western swing with
a history lesson for lyrics. If not for all the reverb, it
could have been the Silver Jews.
But one frustrating aspect of listening to A is trying to
gauge exactly how serious McCombs is. Some signs point to
the possibility that he's a supremely deadpan ironist, an
indie Robbie Williams come to mock the genre from the
inside. But, as one of his songs defensively puts it, "A
Comedian Is Someone Who Tells Jokes". Cass McCombs arrives
in a cloak of fanciful ambiguity. It already feels a couple
sizes too small for him.
iEnjoy!
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█ ░▓▌ ▓ ░▒▓▐█▒░ ESCAPE is actually ONLY ░▒▒▓▓▓█▌
█░▒▓▌ ▒ ░▒▒██▒░ searching for rippers ░░▒▒▓▓██
▀▓▀ ▒ ░░▐█▒░ who can supply CD ░░▒▒▓▓▓█▌
▓ ▒ ░▐█▒░ before ░▒▒▓▓▓█▌
▓ ░ ░██▒░ the store date. ░░▒▒▓▓██ ░
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▒ ░ █▓▒░ If you are one of those, ░░░▒▒▓▓▓█ ░
░ ██▒░ feel free to e-mail us. ░░▒▒▒▓▓▓█ ░
░ ░ ░ ██▒░ ░░▒▒▓▓▓██░░
░▒▐█▒░ We don't need anything else.. ░░▒▒▓▓▓█▌░░
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░ ░░░██░ ▐█▒░░ Thx All For your Support! ░░░▒▒▒▓▓▓▓█▌▒▓█▄░░
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░ █ ▓ ░░ ▀▓▀ ░▒ ██▒░ ASCII ARt by ░▀▀▀████▀ ▓
▐▌ ▒ ▄▄▄██████▄▄ ░░ ██▒▒░ peps_ @ BaFH ░░░▒▓▓██ ▒ ▓
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last update: July, 5th 2002 ░