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"the
blank album"
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| I'm
not patronizing you here, I'm protecting you. Move along. You aren't
ready for this. Buy it for your unborn children. What are the chances
you're going to understand the fierce softness and the soft ferocity?
I wouldn't bet on you. And I like you.
Part
Daniel Johnston, part Stravinsky, part Kurt Cobain, part Foggy Mountain
Boys, Michael McDaeth breaks through all the frames of form and
comes out the other side with something so odd, so brave, so beautiful
and so irritating you won't know what to make of it. When it hits
you, it may leave a mark i.e. I hope you don't bruise easily, i.e.
I hope you don't cry easily, i.e. I hope you dig it. It's only one
guy and only one guitar and one ill-used and slightly grumpy harmonica.
How does it sound like a firestorm on Mars? Beats me. Beats me good.
Listen to "We're Anonymous" from Shine In Reverse. It'll
ease you into it.
The
blank album is slam dancing for the soul. Hope you're insured.
-
Hap Mansfield
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"buy
this car"
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| Recorded
in 2006 "buy this car" is finally being released October/November
2009. Another crazy ride. |
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"Shine
in Reverse"
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There
are two types of singer/songwriters. Many of them write surface-level
songs (a reflection of the "hard times" experienced during
their surface-level lives) with the intent of shopping their five-song
demos to labels. The others -- a far smaller group -- write to purge
their systems of the toxins within, composing to maintain their
day-to-day sanity. These artists have few goals beyond releasing
their work to friends who pester them with, "I want to hear
your music!" Okay, you asked for it.
Fortunately, artists such as Michael McDaeth are around to keep
that second group alive. He's back for a sixth solo round -- a freshly
printed ink-jet label wrapped around a double-disc of madness, a
continuation of his "the music started making him" explorations.
Using only a guitar, a harmonica, his voice and his imagination,
he works magic
There's
no need to provide a detailed account of every song on Shine in
Reverse; once you've heard a few of McDaeth's songs, you've kind
of heard them all. Well, yes and no. McDaeth's creativity isn't
housed in an explosion of multi-tracking or tape-edits. His craft
is in the details, the ability to persevere in (literally) pounding
out 26 songs, all in the same style -- and to your attention while
he does it. He accomplishes this goal by never really finishing
what he's talking about, cutting and pasting sentences together
while splicing in words and harmonica blasts to "end"
phrases. You'll consider his observations later, coming up with
your own conclusions, then returning to the song to piece together
your version of the story. In other words, he's a great director
who gives you the stage, a few details about the characters and
a little fuel for your imagination. As dumb as it sounds, it's refreshing
to experience this type of ambiguity, given the genre's surplus
of let-me-explain-every-little-detail-so-you-don't-have-to-think
artists.
However,
if you listen carefully, McDaeth's madness is merely a façade;
behind it, you'll find an endearing songwriter who enjoys his creative
freedom. When you let go of the idea that an audience or your bandmates
are listening to you, as McDaeth does, you can say "fuck"
and "shit", call world leaders "terrorists",
ramble "duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh", yell "shalalalalalalalala"
and squeak and squawk in keys well beyond your vocal range. His
insulated approach is bolstered by the courage that comes when you
focus on the idea that only you and "the requisite fans"
will listen to your music and "get" it. McDaeth uses this
weapon to its fullest, and regardless of his angst, his performance
betrays the satisfaction he derives from getting things off of his
chest; think about Noam Chomsky's peace when he corrects others,
or the first John Frusciante album, or Evangelical preachers, or
some of the "tortured" yet brilliant bloggers whose work
you peruse every morning.
Once
you get over Shine in Reverse's initial abrasiveness, you'll understand
that McDaeth isn't trying to be weird -- he just lets what's on
his mind come out, jagged edges and mumbling included. While his
predecessors have moved on to Mitsubishi commercials and their own
line of iPods, McDaeth will continue his trek, giving renewed meaning
to "three chords and the truth".
--
Dave Madden
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"Dissipation"
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music,
songs, fingers, strings, wood, metal, vocal chords, lips, teeth,
molars, incisors, grief, words, vibrations, breath, love, death.
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"Rusted
on Through"
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"Dispensing
with the intrusive sound samples that marred Sacred Cow (2002),
McDaeth wisely refocuses on his abrasive vocals and unhinged acoustic
guitar, while pushing his songs ever further into a drumless rock
realm. Whereas Tom Waits was an obvious antecedant to earlier works,
with Rusted On Through Michael mines deeper, stranger lodes of inspiration
like Screaming Jay Hawkins and Hasil Adkins. Wacked tracks like
"Shimeleski Fun Time," "Radio Play," "Death
By Suicide" and "Think I'll Become A Communist" are
exuberant, hard-eyed and fearless, marking a welcome return to form
for an always intriguing artist."
Jim
Santo - demo universe
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(Backcover)
About
Under Protest
A sarcastic
camera, a reluctant amateur filmmaker and a self-important protest singer
wander through the streets of Seattle at the WTO protests. The protest
singer aggressively self promotes (forcing copies of his CD on everyone
he runs into) while looking for the perfect spot to setup and play his
protest song for the people. A song that he insists is, "The right
song for the right time."
UNDER PROTEST is a street view of the event (as seen in the camera's frame).
A short, sharp, romp through the cold damp streets.
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Long
Gone
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| "Long
Gone" from McDaeth's CD "Dissipation" |
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shoo
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"shoo"
from McDaeth's CD "the blank album"
This
video was concieved and directed by filmmaker John Morrison from
Melbourne Australia.
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"I
was punk when punk was punk"
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"I
was punk..." from McDaeth's CD "Rusted on Through"
This
video was concieved and animated by Plague Doctor Studios and Michael
McDaeth
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"Fortune
2005"
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"Fortune
2005 " from McDaeth's CD "Shine in Reverse"
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"Sugar
Headache"
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"Sugar
Headache" from McDaeth's CD "Sacred Cow"
This
video was conceived and animated by Plague Doctor Studios.
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"More
Morphine Please"
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"More
Morphine Please" from McDaeth's CD "the blank album"
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"Charles
Bukowski"
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"Charles
Bukowski" from McDaeth's CD "the Un-Orchestrated Me"
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"Everybody's
Fault"
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"Everybody's
Fault" from McDaeth's CD "the blank album"
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"Dead
Moon"
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"Dead
Moon" McDaeth didn't put this song on any CD release.
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