Sunday, January 2
Art Bears Box
I purchased the Art Bears Box a few days ago. I knew little to nothing about the group until I read a review on the BBC's experimental music page. The set contains every single thing the band recorded--three full studio albums, some live work, some singles, and some remixes by members of the group and fellow travelers. I've been listening to this stuff carefully for the past few days. It was jarring at first--dissonant and confusing. It's basically art music broken down and structured into pop songs--strange, twisted pop songs. At first, I wasn't sure whether I liked it or not. However, then I started paying closer attention to the lyrics, and then I studied how the lyrics fit into the very abstract song structures, and then I again listened to the works as a whole--and I was floored. The lyrics are really amazing, especially on the group's second album, Winter Songs. On that work, the lyrics are all poetic descriptions of these medieval carvings--each song represents one particular carving. Hence, there's a simplicity to the songs that is simply not evident on most works. Here's an example from a song called "Three Figures":
I shall lead, says the boy
And indeed he points the way
His feet precede him for he
Has not turned his head
I will come, only wait
Says the man--
Something calls
I shall stay, says the king
I remain
Unimpressed with the world
--let the world come to me
But he watches the boy
His heart heavy with
Fear
Not bad, huh? To accompany these words (or the voice singing these words), there is a militaristic drum beat rattling behind three distinct, elliptical guitar melodies, each one representing (I'm guessing) a different figure. What's really interesting is the fact that the medieval carving is pictured in the liner notes next to the lyrics--and when you study it, you realize that the lyrics really are simply describing the carving; the only addition is some narrative subtext to put the images into a context. This is challenging, fascinating music. It's not for everyone--the singing is about as un-rock or pop as you're likely to get, never trying to create grooves or harmonies or even coherence from one line to the next. But for those who are tired of the cliches that abound in popular music, give the Art Bears a listen.
