Sunday, July 6, 2008

Ugly Casanova - sharpen your teeth (2002)



This is a project by Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse), Brian Deck and Tim Rutili (both from Califone), Paul Jenkins (Black Heart Procession) and John Orth (Holopaw). It feels like a post-modern study of American music by an autistic robot, and elegantly quotes from different genres and time-lines, as in the folk/ blues/ electronica "Barnacles", the post-industrial blues/ gospel "Spilled Milk Factory", the ghostly hallucination "Pacifico", the acid/ country/ folk/ electronica "Smoke Like Ribbons" etc.

In the meantime, the anthemic melody of "Parasites" has a childish feel to it (in contrast with the epic horns in the background), the restless manic funk/ blues "Ice on the Sheets" remembers Pere Ubu, "Beesting" recalls Syd Barrett, while "Hotcha Girls" is a tranquil folk lullaby. This is more than a series of experiments. The album never feels artificial, never loses it's sense of purpose. An amazing work.

Get it here.

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